A Hero and Lord
by Artorious1776
Summary: Life is dull living alone with few friends. That's the life Alex endures until... hes not home any longer. Rather hes in his favorite game. Skyrim? No, something's different. The argonians are different and khajiit remain hidden. And when did Skryim have dwarves? And no dragons roaming free? : Unknown Pairings (If any) : OC Centric : Semi-Canon : I own nothing
1. A New Dawn

**This is a skyrim/overlord fic. Just some heads up before reading on. This is my first time every writing something like this so be patient as this is like a grace period of sorts for me. In fact, I may not even end up enjoying this all that much; that's how green I am. As such, I don't really know the straight up dos and don'ts with this whole thing so I'll try my hardest to keep away from an M rating.**

**I love Skyrim with a passion and still play it quite a bit. I am familiar with the lore somewhat but that won't really be looked upon here. I also happen to love Overlord, considering it one of my favorite anime to date. I haven't read any of the light novels though so my knowledge is only from the 2-3 times I've watched the anime Overlord, seasons 1, 2 and 3 respectively.**

**This story will be an OC as you can't really take an MC from Skyrim without touching the NPCs, so I'm taking my main character from Skyrim and throwing him into the "New World" and kind of go between the OC and Ainz although it will be OC centric.**

**Keeping that in mind, I'll try to keep characters to reasonably canon-like attitudes and mindsets, however, I will more than likely end up changing the way they act in ways some might disagree with. If so, that leads me to my next point:**

**I can take critique, yet flaming or any unnecessary remarks are just that. It really puts a damper on any 'ambitions,' so just keep that in mind. I want to hear if I made a character weird. I want to know if I got something wrong. **

**I haven't memorized all the damn spells in Overlord, that's impossible so I, of course, will also more than likely be creating new, 'realistic' spells as well. **

**With all that being said, I hope you enjoy my first fic. :)**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now."_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

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**A New Dawn**

"Damnit today was tough. Whoever says educations easy really needs to wake up. I had half a dozen assignments due in just today!" announced a new voice to no one in particular. "Ugghhhhh fine. I'll leave tomorrow's problems to tomorrow's me. Its friday afterall." Flipping the light switch on shows your average apartment, a small, clean kitchen merging with the entryway. Kicking off his shoes, 18 year old Alex Sawyer walks to the sink for some much needed water.

Gulping down the cool liquid and placing the glass back on the kitchen table should he want more later, he heads to the only other room in the house besides the toilet and kitchen. His room. Inside is nothing special, just enough room for a twin sized bed, a set of drawers and a table with the only item of real value centered on it: His computer. Plopping himself down on the padded swivel chair, Alex gets ready for another night of gaming.

"Geez, 9 pm already. I really need to learn to get home earlier."

Flying through all the passwords for the computer and all necessary apps, the moment he spends his days longing for arrives. That moment every gamer yearns for, much like all other people in existence. The need to sit down and relax, in this case by playing video games.

Opening up Skyrim, Alex begins the grind. Having done most of the quests, there wasn't very much left to do. Going through mods definitely helps. Specifically, having completed the "Better Vampires" mod recently checks off the list of mods he has to finish.

Alex rubs his eyes as his exhaustion seems to catch up to him. Glancing to his left, he notices the digital clock on his bedside table. "Holy crap 2:30 in the morning? Whatever, I'm probably gonna be late tomorrow. Guess I'll head off to sleep. Nothing much else for me to do. Strange, one would imagine me to have more to do in 2019."

After performing his nightly rituals, wishing goodnight to his non-existent family he lost to a house fire at the age of 13, a practice of which he hasn't really gotten over, the bed beckons for him to engage in every person's nightly slumber.

"Tomorrow's gonna be a pain. I just hope my Bio professor forgives me for handing my first assignment in a tad late. First year of college is bothersome. Why could I have just been born somewhere fun. Doing things that I want to instead of learning things I have no real interest in. I'd rather be exploring the world… or playing video games... " A rare smirk disrupts Alex's face as he fails to stave off his drowsiness, succumbing to sleep.

"No, let me sleep a bit longer…"

_Poke Poke*_

"I said knock it off mom… MOM!?"

Alex quickly gets up to ascertain who nudged him in his sleep. Alex is actually quite fit and has sharp reflexes. Observation is also a strong suit, so when someone touches him in his sleep, when he lives alone, even a complete idiot would know that something's wrong.

Noticing the deer that had been poking him dash towards the nearest bush and away from sight, Alex knew something was definitely wrong. "_What the hell? I went to bed in my, well, bed. And I live in New York!" _

Quickly searching around for a location, he took notice to his surroundings. He had been laying on his back on thick carpet of grass, in a small clearing roughly 10 meters in diameter, encircled by the lush, green leaves of an oak forest. The sunlight came through the opening in the canopy, noticing the same golden rays but in scattered streaks barely lighting up the rest of the forest. "_Its November. How is the vegetation like this?" _were Alex's last thoughts before getting hit by a light breeze passing through the air.

Goosebumps appeared all over his body as his naked flesh cut through the wind. "_Wait, naked?" _Looking down confirms the feeling. With only a kind-of cloth/fibrous set of undergarments on, Alex was all but stark naked. "_Sigh* Regardless, I'm not cold. It can't be less than 25 degrees out right now."_

Observing his surroundings more brought on a new fact. "_Was I always this ripped? And when could see this good? I was never blind, but this is above what I'd expect from even 20/20 vision." _

His ears twitch, signifying his having picked up a distant sound. "_Small stream. 145 meters, to my left. Wait, how'd do I know that? And how could I hear that?"_

Making his way towards the stream took but half a minute. Looking into the water surprised him. His face. It was different. It looked familiar, but different. "What's wrong with my eyes?!" Seeing as his eyes were the more or less the same were it not for the iris's being red in coloration. Otherwise, it was still normal.

Searching every nook and cranny of his body while standing in the streams shallow, almost crystal clear water proved to show quite the results.

Alex's face had changed. He seemed to be a mixture. His eye brows, mouth, nose and the like were the same as before, just his jaw was slightly more toned, his eyes had the change in color and he didn't look 18. The difference in age was subtle, but he appeared to be closer to 22 then that of a teenager. His hair was still the same as before; short, blonde hair that was cut short by the ears but had some left near the bangs and by the back of the neck, with his bangs parted to the right, clearing his forehead. Even though it was seemingly the same, much like his face, it gave off a new feeling of maturity, one of adulthood.

Strangely enough, his canines were slightly sharper as well, not really elongated and not like that of a dog, but just sharper.

Looking over his body gave him a new sense of transformation as well. He still stood at his normal height of 6 foot 2 inches but unlike before, his body was in much better shape. Being no slouch before, his body was fine, but now it was much different. Going from his feet to his thighs, wrists to biceps, abs to pecs were all but muscle. Little fat stood in the way of the 6-pack of abs and the bricks for a chest. It was in no way the figure of a bodybuilder, just that of what one might see of a warrior, a fighter who just so happened to also watch his diet. Relatively broad shoulders complimented his toned body well.

"_Damn. Not too big but not too small. Good height, good size, maybe, what, 90 kg? I'm about what I could only really dream about before. But now's the question… How?"_

After checking out his body 2 or 3 more times, Alex sat close to the stream bed and focusing. Ever since he woke up, he felt something. It was odd. He had an idea of where he saw the features that were alien to his face and body but needed more evidence. His eyesight was infinitely better, seeing through even parts of the woods that would otherwise be covered in shadow. His hearing was phenomena. Although used to it now, for the first few minutes the combination of increased eyesight, hearing, and some kind of sixth sense he had bombarded him with information, giving him a small headache. It quickly resided but as a result, it allowed Alex to focus on other differences in his being.

"_What is this odd magicka? Magicka? Why did I say that as if…"_

Something clicked. To test it out, Alex held out his right hand and did his best to send his magicka to it. He shouted "Flame" and what resulted was a burst of fire that shot out of his hand, from the palm. It was a stream of burning red flames that stretched 8 meters before its ends just barely flicked against the nearest tree dead ahead, charing the bark. Canceling the spell after 15 seconds and bring his unscathed hand up in front of his face and making a fist after close examination, he smiled.

"_Just as I thought. Too real to be a dream. Impossible to be imagining it. I'm in Skyrim…? No, that can't be right. I mean, I look like my main character, but different. Also…" _Looking up, in the vicinity of the sun, then glancing around, "_The sun is slightly larger than I remember. The trees too thick, too tightly packed. This is not Skyrim with its northern features. From what I could tell from the game, It shouldn't even get this hot. Also, judging by the trees, it's only mid spring. It should get even hotter going off of the real worlds seasons."_

Settling himself on a rock, on the other side of the clearing 5 meters from the stream, Alex concentrated once again. "_What to do? I'm not hungry right now, or thirsty for that matter. Geez, why am I so calm? Am I just happy because I'm gone from that world?"_ Letting out a sigh, Alex looks up with a slight frown, wondering about how he got here. But then, it dawned on him. "_You know what? I don't really care. Screw the other world. Even if I'm stuck here forever, I'd much rather stay here and live without the pressures of that other stupid world, where I lived alone regardless. Few if any friends, no direct family and a shitty apartment…"_

Thinking back to his apartment reminded him of his possessions, or rather lack thereof. Looking down, "_Wait, I'm still naked." _Almost as if on queue, Alex remembered changing, of course, but not just physically. When he used that flame spell, it was as if he had done it several thousands of times before. His mind had molded to that of his character as well. No real thoughts or memories, just boundless knowledge of skills, spells and race info. Not only that, but also the only real memory given outside of spells and applications.

His inventory.

With the grace and speed of someone having opened a small dimensional rift, which gains entry to a storage only accessible to himself, a thousand times, Alex pulls out a sword. A double edged blade, shimmering against the bright rays of the sun. Silver-gray in color but with a golden hue to it; a circular handguard with a diameter of 4 inches with a dark brown, leather-wrapped handle ending with a golden orb for a pommel, complimenting the same golden orb found in the middle of the handguard.

"The Dawnbreaker really is a beautiful sword" spoke Alex, holding the blade up vertically from his body.

The funny thing was that even though it was his first time holding the sword, he felt like it was the thousandth. Testing it with a few swings, the edge cut tufts of grass sticking up higher than needed with a mesmerizing clarity not out of place in an arena for demigods, or so he believed.

Each stance, technique, block, parry flooded his mind yet remained at peace with the blade and with himself. "_Damn my character must have been a real pro. I feel bad for all those bandits I killed in my playthrough."_

Placing the blade back in its steel reinforced leather sheath brought Alex's attention to his clothing. His apparel options were bountiful but for now, he would go with something special. He willed it, and out if came. His clothing adorning his body with but a thought, however unlike the game it wasn't instant. A gentle mist seemed to wrap his body, just enough to shield his person from view.

The fog quickly dispersing after only about a 10 second outfit change revealed a man wearing a light-looking set of armor, dark grey in coloration from head to toes. Looking almost like leather, the shirt with metal plates placed covering the chest and majority of the torso, the plates themselves ending near the navel, the same leather like material following down his legs, hugging his body all over, plates armor covering his thighs and running down the sides, back of the legs and down the shins, leaving the back and sides open yet still covered by the leather. Plates covering boots with black soles, with intricate patterns running from the boots up the armor, following all the way to the shoulders and down the arms. Covering the shoulder blades was more plated metal, same in trend with the rest of the armor. Sticking tight the skin, the faux-leather snuck underneath the almost black plated gauntlets, continuing over plateless fingertips.

Finally, more of the leather moves up to cover his face in a half mask, obscuring most of his face except the bridge of his nose and eyes, albeit still rendering it difficult to see due to the shadows created by the hood drawn over his head leaving only to slightly glowing red orbs to be seen from the front of the 'mask.' A darkened cape covering his shoulders and moving only slightly past the back of his knees trails ever so slightly behind him, fluttering in the light breeze.

"_God do I love the nightingale set. Great defence for light armor with excellent enchants, well for a stock item that is."_

Placing the sheath on his left hip, angled back ever so slightly, a new thought occurs as Alex gets ready to make his way to whatever town may be nearby. His sight is amazing and he can hear the slightest of sounds while also being able to sense animals as small as squirrels from over 400 meters away in the thick forest, Alex still cannot detect a town.

"_Wait. Casting that flame spell before got me thinking… what dictates whether or not I follow the same rules placed in Skyrim?"_

"_Who says I can't put more magicka behind my spells then normally allowed?"_

**Same Time; 12 km Northeast of Carne Village:**

A large skeleton with bright red orbs for eyes speaks in some sort of arena, addressing only a handful or so other beings, currently taking a knee before it.

"You have served me well. Make sure to do your best and work diligently for the Great Tomb of Nazarick"

Seemingly vanishing, the skeleton teleports to another section of the structure.

"What's with these guys? And why are they so… so serious?"

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**How was it? I hope it wasn't too long. Or rather, I hope I didn't bore anyone with needlessly long descriptions or the like. As I said, my first fic. Don't really know what to avoid, what to keep in mind, etc. I just get passionate with some aspects of skyrim. If you need to get a better picture of how "Alex" looks, just google the armor although if you've played Skyrim, they aren't rare pieces of equipment by any real means.**

**This beginning was basically OC centric and I plan to continue doing so, only interlacing some moments in Nazarick or concerning Ainz so I can set rough time stamps as to where in the timeline the OC is. Ainz and his squad will be more prevalent later when he meets the OC. **

**I won't spoil anything but just know that I am NOT gonna make the OC a pushover.**

**Bye for now.**


	2. First Contact

**Still new to the whole writing thing. On a bit of a high so these next few chapters might come out rather fast. Been thinking a bit about the future; interactions between the main cast and the OC for example, or how fights may or may not turn out. I'm not entirely sure what might come in the future so we'll see.**

**Got a review on my first day and considering I'm surprised people even so much as glanced at my first work surprised me so thank you all, even those who just looked at it. It shows that my writing is at least making its way out there.**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now."_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

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**First Contact**

"We've been routed! Retreat and send for aid!" yelled a man in basic iron plate chest armor with a leather cap, gloves and leggings. Wielding a spear of which a dozen or so other men around him did, it was easy to tell he was a common foot soldier. Nothing more than 1 amongst a thousand.

Hearing their brother's call, the other men of the battalion fled west to regroup at their temporary camp, setup somewhere in the forest, no more than half-a-days walk from the nearest road, halfway between E-Pespel and E-Rantel. The need to flee? A group of 20 bandits chasing after them, the very bandits the Re-Estize Kingom's soldiers were sent to thwart, was the likely reason. Slowing down after realizing the soldiers had bolted, the bandits sent cheers towards their leader, positioned slightly to their rear.

Clad in leather armor from the knee up to his neck, stopping at his shoulders with plate steel shin guards, knee protectors and a plate-steel chestpiece covering the top of his torso, all of which has seen better days, the leader moved forward to greet his men. His unruly one sided steel battleaxe was chipped but remained decently sharp due to crude attempts at sharpening the hunk of metal on a grindstone was held in one handed, axe head nudging the ground.

Swinging the blood covered axe over his shoulders, the main exclaimed "Yet another group of cowards dealt by the hand of Urman and his band!"

The shout earning another round of cheers from the now-named Urman's crew, the man in question shouted once more "Take whatever you can find! Leave not a stone untouched, wrap unfolded! Every coin is worth the loss!" Saying the last bit put a damper on his soul, or rather would have were he to care. Any man of his who died in the field of such a worthless battle was no real 'pawn' at all. "_Bunch of weaklings, the lot of them. I should dock their pay right around now shouldn't I?" _

Snickering at the self asked rhetorical question, Urman was about to proceed with chewing out the ears of his o-so worthless men when he heard rustling in the bushes behind him. Out came a man which, even for Urman, left a slight cold sweat, even if for an instant. By no means was Urman a 'coward,' technically, but he had only ever fought 'normal' opponents. He was used to answering to the steel of the Re-Estize's spears or the cowering of merchants just asking to be raided. Never had he met a man with armor like this. Almost in entirely black clothing, the light armored, hooded and caped man walked through the bush.

His movements slow but with a grace seen only on the greatest of warriors. Not that Urman noticed that last part. If only he could see the asshole's face!

"Who are you. Do you have a deathwish fool?" spoke Urman with newfound confidence, seeing the man stand still.

"Me? do you really want to know?" were the first words out of the hooded man, after which he observed the area around him, noticing now the bodies he didn't quite see until he came up close. A low growl emitted from the man, one of slight anger.

"_What's he so angry about?" _"Yes! Now stop playing a fool and answer! I am Urman, the leader of this group." Sending a whistle, his men surrounded the man as fast as they could while snickering about his oncoming demise. "I would like to know the name of the idiot who bothered us."

Not fazed in the slightest, the man seemed to ponder for a few seconds before answering, without any real emotion present in his voice "You can call me Kolstein. Kolstein Nash."

**Flashback 30 minutes:**

"Come on Alex, think. What are the real merits to this not being a game?"

Alex, still wearing his dark-gray, hooded nightingale armor had been walking for just under 3 days. Stopping only for rest and to eat, he'd made good progress. He had no sense in direction and had still to meet any people but that's because he has yet to locate a road.

Since entering the world, Alex has noticed many functions that he possessed in the game. First off, like in the 'Better Vampires' mod, he was the highest tier vampire. Simply put, the base game Skyrim allowed you to be a vampire and then a vampire lord later on through the downloadable content, 'Dawnguard.' 'Better Vampires' however adds more tiers.

Simply put, one starts as a vampire fledgling and moves their way up the different vampiric levels, for lack of a better word, through feeding on people. After doing so so many times, one evolves to become a lesser vampire. Then the same system is used to become the next stage, that being a full vampire, and so on. Being the sixth and final stage, Alex is a Vampiris Praeceptor as well as a vampire lord, boosting his stats to great margins. His hp, stamina and magicka regenerate and alarming rate and a mixture of his high rankings, he has completely negated any negative effects the sun would normally offer.

Although he has noticed the sun is something he doesn't necessarily enjoy.

Being the vampire rank he is, he has a number of abilities. Naturally resistant to frost, that added on to the fact he is a nord which already gives him 50% resistance to frost damage makes him nearly immune to the element, he can use various absorption spells and raise undead spells as well as mind dominations. What's most interesting and useful though is his, what's called, Vampiris Vision. Simply put, when activated, in which it requires no magicka or cool down to use so essentially meaning it can be on at all times, it can locate a person's aura through any object. Basically, it roughly measures a beings vitality and allows him to see it through walls and other obstacles some several hundred meters away.

On top of the visual aspect, it also affects his hearing. Alex is now capable of hearing the heartbeats of those very same people, making them even easier than before to locate. Vampiris Vision mixed with his already sensitive hearing, crystal clear vision, sensory abilities due to the perception of magicka/mana and his keen feelings of vibrations indicating movement allow for him to detect nearly anything at a great distance. It could be deemed impossible to get within 200 meters of him without guaranteeing his seeing you.

The near perfect sensory abilities paired with a body of great speed, agility and strength would place Alex as a worthy contender as top 30 or so most powerful beings in the world.

Alex also noticed another mods effects. At the start of the 'Skyrim' playthrough, one is allowed to choose another races ability to have on top of their own. Playing as a nord put Alex's character as a fighter but considering he wanted a mage build as well, he took the high elves ability, 'highborn.' In game, the ability give extreme magicka regeneration for a minute once per day. Something of a feeling suggest to Alex though that it might last longer than that. "_I'll have to try out that ability one day."_

To put an end to his character overview of abilities, Alex recalls his character being around level 200. He had every skill at max level with a point in every tree.

"_That's gonna be fun to work with. Can't wait to work on some alchemy and enchanting…"_

Back to the question at hand, Alex is contemplating the magicka system. "_Considering I'm not in the game, I shouldn't be bound by the same rules. I feel like the same cap I had on spells normally doesn't exist. I feel like I can place twice as much magicka into my flame spell, so does that mean it will be twice as big as well? And if that's the case, what's stopping other things from breaking free of the rules. Can I now wear 10 rings if I wanted to? That would be…"_

Brought out of his musings by his sensory abilities, screaming of pray… "_Wait, why am I so excited? I feel like a feast is coming…"_

With his enhanced sense of smell, iron was wafted through the air. "Blood" said Alex as he quickened his pace and leapt to a tree. It was coming from the north, some 400 meters away. Covering the distance in 12 seconds without breaking a sweat, Alex comes upon a battle taking place in the woods.

The clash of metal could be heard from quite a distance and the blood was making him hungry. "_Damnit, my vampiric side is longing for some blood although its easily controllable. I mean, I'm not just vampire. Being 1/3 nord and technically 1/3 dragon makes it easier, especially when being the rank I am makes it easier and takes away any negatives from being blood hungry."_

Throwing his attention back to the battle, viewing the battle from one of the branches halfway down the 20 meter tall tree, Alex throws on a quick invisibility spell to hide himself from view. He learned this spell in the field of illusion magic although being the vampire rank he is also gives him a special invisibility he can use 3 times per day which also hides his magicka. "_I'll save that for a future need."_

Hearing one of the generic warriors shout for his men to retreat, Alex begins to approach seeing as to how the bandits are celebrating their victory. Sneaking up thanks to his invisibility and the muffle enchant on his boots allows him to easily move towards the group completely unnoticed, although the muffle ability is also unneeded considering his inherit sneak ability and his 'opponents' lack of competence.

Deciding he's had enough of skulking around, Alex moves closer to the man he heard call himself Urman during one of the chants, just to talk. Alex didn't like the men from their behaviour but even after being identified as bandits, a life's a life and killing without cause makes him the monster most people would associate him with.

Taking off his invisibility and turning off his muffle enchant, Alex moves towards the leader. Upon hearing the footsteps, the boss quickly turns around to get a look at what moved.

Seeming rather blank for a second put Alex off. "_What, am I that scary or something? Maybe I should wear something else… I'll see."_

Regaining his composure, Urman yells out "Who are you. Do you have a deathwish fool?"

Stifling a chuckle at his oh so powerful answer, sounding borderline barbaric from his gravelly tone, Alex responds "Me? do you really want to know?" Upon finishing, a heartbeat was heard from his left, about 20 meters away. He looked to see one of the soldiers still alive, having been impaled by his own spear through his stomach after a bandit disarmed him. Laying face down in a pool of bright red blood, barely clinging to consciousness, he mouthed a single word with his final breath before slumping and his eyes glazing over.

Almost being unable to pick up the mingled word, Alex pondered "_Carla?... Perhaps a lover? Family?" _Feeling slightly disturbed by the final word to a potential family member brought Alex a new feeling. Gazing about the battlefield, now seeing clearly the faces of the damned soldiers. Looks of fear, pain, uncertainty. Thinking of all the families that are down a member tonight. Over 16 soldiers just doing their duty to protect their nation perished. And for what? For people to caught up in their own greed, to hellbent on destroying the lives of others just to make a quick buck all the while killing those who attempt to put a stop to it.

Feeling something he hasn't sensed in ages, the freshly built and constantly rising anger and pity for the men who lost their lives grow even further. "_What animals! There are people just like them back in our world. No remorse! No understanding to their actions." _A small growl slipped from his throat. "_Forget discussions, no more talking. .Be. ." _

"Yes! Now stop playing a fool and answer! I am Urman, the leader of this group." Upon saying this, Alex found himself surrounded by the bandit leader's men. Muttering to himself "Yes, I can try out some things on them" just low enough for no one to hear. "I would like to know the name of the idiot who bothered us."

Although his body and breath remained unaltered, were it not for his half mask, the men would have been sent to the afterlife shivering from the slight grin plastered on his face, showing how Alex yearned for the upcoming fight to test himself and to bring at least some kind of closure to the men who fell today.

"You can call me Kolstein. Kolstein Nash."

That was the last thing about half of the men heard before being roasted alive by one of the largest fire spells they've ever seen.

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**So I know that one ended in a weird spot. I wanted to get a lot of the initial explaining out of the way so that in the future, I can whip out spells that have been seen in the game and still have it be more powerful than most people will remember it being.**

**Next chapter will be the first real fight if you could call it that although not much in the sense of skills and moves. Most of you could probably already guess, it's gonna be a massacre.**

**As always, I would appreciate any feedback. Even if its negative, if it shows how I can improve it, well, depicts how I can be a better writer while also showing me that people care enough to help me out.**

**Bye for now**


	3. A Show of Power

**I just wanted to add before this chapter that the schedule of which they come out will be, realistically, non-existent. I write whenever I feel like writing and for now that's equating to around once per day as I'm just starting out and really enjoying it.**

**To answer a reviewers unasked question, it's up to you to decide whether the Dragonborn is inherently good or not but considering his personality could be said to be a split between his real self as "Alex" and his in game persona, the Vampire/Dragonborn "Kolstein" will have him mostly neutral unless it affects him. Helping people who deserve it, partying with people if it benefits him or is fun. That kind of thing. Although, I won't have him causing massacres for shits and giggles, he won't be an angel by any definition of the word. **

**How Alex/Kolstein will interact with Ainz and Co is entirely up in the air atm so I won't go to far into what I'm thinking.**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now."_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

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**A Show of Power**

"You can call me Kolstein. Kolstein Nash."

Following the quick introduction was an abrupt raising of his right arm, palm facing a congested group of 8 of the remaining 20 bandits standing at the ready to his right. With a small flame enveloping his hand starting at the center of his palm, Kolstein muttered "Flame," this time, putting in as much magicka as he could behind the attack as he assumed would increase it's damage, unlike what was possible in the actual game.

What came out was essentially a roaring inferna. A flamethrower some staring out small, expanding to about 6 meters in diameter, after traveling 2 meters. The bright golden flames, far hotter than before, flew at an astonishing rate towards the cluster. 7 could do nothing but watch in horror as only 1 of them had the agility and perception to dodge, but just enough to evade his own demise.

The stench of burning flesh successfully overtook any other as the screams of the damned could only be heard for a mere 4-5 seconds before perishing. The lone survivor of the attack was screaming on his own now, flames having licked his whole body for but an instant. Enough to leave 3rd degree burns running up the entire right hand side of his body.

In their shock, the rest of the group failed to notice Kolstein's departure. He was gone. Out of the circle.

"AAGGHHG!"

The scream turned heads to see a man missing his torso, cut clean in half from the hip.

"_Damn this is useful. I knew that magicka was good for magic but it also helps my power and speed. Somehow, it stimulates my muscles enough when flowing through them to increase their capabilities" _thought Kolstein as he began running around at his top speed which was all but a teleportation to the 'normal' warriors around him.

"_What's happening?! My men! I don't even see them dying…" _exclaimed Urman to himself. He didn't care much for his subordinates but it was still disturbing him to see such precise, quick movements ending them as if they were never there to begin with.

The fires resulting from the flame spell were raging now in all directions. It had spread to encompass the whole area except the trees they were fighting at.

They were trapped. That did not sit well with Urman.

"_That flame spell really did what I wanted. The lowest level fire spell but did all of that? Thank you world. Although, I could only make it 20 times stronger than normal before I could no longer output anymore magicka. Whatever, maybe I can train to further the output. Can't wait to try that on my fireball spell. Oooo and chain-lighting. Actually, I'll try that now" _mused Kolstein stopping his melee onslaught. "_Got to make sure that ass hat doesn't die though. Can't have him let off too easy. Besides, I've got a plan for him…"_

After cleaving the heads off of another soldier, his blood staining the blade before evaporating from the fire enchant, another body for the forest to enjoy, Kolstein was left with 9 more foes. All of them were now scatter, but Urman still placed himself further from the rest.

"_Pfff. You make my life too easy Urman." _Finishing his thoughts, Kolstein stops in the middle of the group once more, left hand without weapon stretched out once more but this time with a ball of condensed blue. A pure ball of lightning no bigger than 3 inches in diameter. "Chain lightning" were the words spoken as his hand unclasped around the ball, releasing it upon the nearest enemy 10 meters away. Hitting him with extreme accuracy, the charged bolt about 6 inches wide this time pierced his sternum and protruded the rear, only to continue to its next target. The second man was struck and much the same, he could not even afford a gasp at the sudden fatal blow, sending electrical currents running through his body, frying him if the bolt through his heart wasn't enough.

Each person, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, so on died in the same manner. Again, burning flesh met with the sight of charred skin, smoke erupting through multiple orifices, befell the scene. All of this happened at the speed of the lightning bolt, all 9 men, the 9th being the man we was half burnt by the flame who was still screeching on the ground in agony, perished in the course of a microsecond.

All dead before touching the ground.

Urman had sensed his death miles away before but now it was a guarantee. He had lost all confidence and was shaking uncontrollably in his boots. Axe dropped, backing away from a slowly approaching cloaked man, Urman screamed out "I've had enough of this! W-W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DEMON!?"

"And here I thought you just described perfectly" exclaimed a stoic Kolstein before seemingly flashing before Urman. Before he could move however, Kolstein grabbed the barbarian with an iron grip by the arm all the while dropping his mask with other hand.

Urman couldn't even scream as he felt two shart pinpricks penetrate the skin on his neck, the culprit being his foes teeth. At first there was pain but that was quickly washed away by a calm he has yet to feel in his life. Calm and serenity. He stopped all resistance and only stood still as Kolstein backpedaled slowly away. "_What is this feeling. Calm. Peace. This urge. Wait. Who is this man? My foe- no. My master? Yes. I fought my master. I should be dead, and yet I was spared. I must repay this mercy but following him, protecting him. My… Master…"_

"Master" Taking a knee with right hand over his heart, Urman looks up at his new lord. "Please have mercy. Allow me to defend you and all you own, with my life."

"_Awesome, my first thrall! His face annoys me because of what I saw him do but I mean I can get past it. Not like he really did anything other than try to kill me. The pasts behind us. Besides, the poor guy is essentially an extremely loyal servant now so all the same."_

"Yes, I will have you follow me. From here on, we shall travel forwards and you shall do what I tell you. Understood."

Urman bowed even deeper, if that was possible, and announced "Of course Master Kolstein. I am your blade and shield. Point me in the direction, and I shall serve without fail."

"Excellent!" Said Kolstein "Although, in your current shape, you won't be much help. You are weak. I do not know how strong the others of this world will be but regardless of that, strength is something you should strive for. As long as we are together, you are to prioritize training yourself, under the assumption that it is safe to be able to do so of course."

"Yes master!" "However, it would be most troublesome were you to be recognized. Here, take this…" After standing up, Urman looked in awe as his new master formed a light haze, a mist which he found out concealed armor within. "Here, this will be your new armor. It shall protect you if you know how to use it."

After taking 3 minutes to put the armor on, tying each piece of leather to hold the plates in place, what adorned Urman's body as he stood up wouldn't be out of place at a medieval art gallery. With hardened-blue steel plates following the curves of his body, almost like it magically fitted itself to the new wearer, the metal covered almost every inch of the body with the exception of the joints which were instead protected by a chainmail of the same quality. The helmet covered his whole head bar the eyes with to plated wing coming off of either side of the helmet, pointed slightly up and to the rear. The whole body from the gauntlets, boots, shin guards and helm were covered with intricate designs of swirls which seem to flow across the silver armor. Finally, a black cloak, long enough to reach his feet, coupled with a hood was given to him.

"Listen Urman" spoke Kolstein, tossing the same steel war axe the ex-bandit leader wielded prior "That armor has leant me its aid throughout many a tough battle. Much like it will for you if you are skilled enough. I may not use it, however it still serves to hold some intrinsic value for my past with it. Steel plate armor isn't the cheapest, so be grateful of your allowance to wear it." "_Not like I bought it. I got it at the end of one the harder bandit-slaying quests. Oh well."_

Standing up a little bit straighter upon hearing its rough history, Urman, with his battle axe in his dominant right hand swung the unruly weapon and planted the end of the handle in the ground, planting it vertically at his side, hood down, his cloak fluttered at the movement.

"Yes master!"

With the fires of his wild attack dieing down slightly as they dispersed amongst the still-living forest, Kolstein and his new subordinate, continuing north considering Urman mentioned the road being in that direction when asked, a new adventure begins.

"_I hope I don't stand out too much…"_

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**So that was my first attempt at aa fight scene. I didn't want to be overly descriptive there as I personally find it rather boring when every fight I read about is written as "A right swing was blocked by his left hand, causing his opponent to stagger. The opening allowed for his left knee to cave into his open stomach."**

**Actually, after writing that, it wasn't that bad. I'm intending to make these fight with lesser opponents rather quick. Even this one was long for the type of people he was facing although if he encounters similar foes in the future, they will be dispersed quicker. Furthermore, this had to be longer as it was his first confrontation is this world.**

**Anyway, I hope this lived up to your expectations. Like I've mentioned before, first story, still trying to learn all of the necessary skills and techniques to implement. Later on, as the chapter go on, my writing should hopefully become a lot better.**

**Bye for now**


	4. Reentry

**Any and all reviews are much obliged. I'm thick skinned so criticism is more than welcome, just not baseless critique covered in flaming hate. Tips are of course appreciated.**

**Also, just to address this, the character traits, both physical and mental strangely enough, sort of mirror my own Skyrim character. His name being Kolstein Nash. I threw in all equipment I might have otherwise had stored in my home to spice things up. **

**Anyone who isn't too familiar with Skyrim or hasn't played it at all, which may be kind of strange cause a demographic for people who haven't played Skyrim barely exists mixed with the fact your reading a Skyrim-oriented fic would imply you've at least tried the game, all, if not most, items used by the MC and Co will exist in Skyrim.**

**A simple search on google will give you a perfect picture of what they look like. So far, the following equipment has been brought out, as a reminder:**

**Nightingale Armor**

**Dawnbreaker Sword**

**Steel Plate Armor**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now."_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

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**Reentry**

"_Urman is a LOT easier to be around then I thought" _mused Kolstein, walking in front of his new subordinate/thrall. Urman following only slightly behind his new master on the road, the two have made good progress. Traveling at a solid pace 2 days does this.

"_He is by no means comparable to me, but from what I can tell from comparing him to the few humans we've passed on the path, some being merchants, others intimidating-looking bodyguards, I can sense the decently big difference between their strengths."_

All potential warriors having passed were essentially only consisting of adventurers, an occupation explained to him by Urman the previous day. Apparently, like one would imagine, adventurers are sort of like warriors who have joined a, well, adventurers guild. Here, they are given ranks which give rough ideas as to how strong they are, dictated by their mission frequency and difficulty.

Going around the provinces, adventurers take on missions such as easy escorts to defend against bandits all the way to clearing caves of goblins, defeating ogres, the list goes on. The rankings are simple enough, being equipped with plates made of varying materials showed this ranking.

The lowest rank being copper, which meant that only the easiest quests were taken by the adventurer. Then comes iron, silver, gold, platinum, mithril, orichalcum and finally adamantite. Although adventurers can go out solo, it is way more common for people to group together with other people of relatively equal skill. Just like the people in them, adventurer teams can be given a rank as well.

Urman explained that other than the country's own men, sometimes iron-plated adventurers would come after them back when he was still a bandit, explaining how they were typically more difficult to handle due to their more… unruly tactics and dishonourable nature, leading them down a path of 'dirty tricks,' to quote Urman.

Regardless, Kolstein pondered about various things. Sometimes working on some spells while giving some pointers to Urman on how to better swing his axe, like what they were doing just now while supposedly resting for the day. Since becoming Kolstein's thrall, Urman has noticed in himself some new changes.

"_No matter what happens, I almost always remain calm. Only when master is being disrespected or is at risk do I find myself reacting negatively. I also find myself growing less tired, like I have more energy and have become only slightly stronger. I do not care about being forced to be a thrall, in fact now I am even deeply grateful" _looking up slightly at Kolstein as he is engrossed in his book "_More so than he will ever understand. He saved me. Of my pathetic excuse of a life. Banditry is no way to live. Walking behind master is. So, thank you…"_

"Urman, swing again" voicing his thoughts on how his first 'ally' can improve. "Right there. On your next swing, try holding your hands slightly further apart. You prioritize strength, but a balance between power and maneuverability is a must lest you find yourself inundated by your foe's agility."

"Yes master." Doing as told, Urman is surprised to see that his master was right. Well, not so much that he WAS right, just how right he really was. It was totally different. Before, he had been using brute strength in combat to overpower his enemies but..

"_With a little sound theory and some technique behind his moves, I can almost guarantee his fighting prowess will skyrocket…"_

"_Not that he really needs it as of right, considering what I've seen so far. All those weak looking men have nothing on, dare I say, either of us."_

Already recognizing Urman's strength makes it easy to see how simple it would be for him to demolish the iron-plate groups they passed here and there. Not only his power, but not thanks to his armor, which is surprisingly light all things considered, and his already pretty decent quality axe, well decent for 'his neck of the woods' one could say, it would be a massacre. A hard fought one should he be teamed up against 10 on 1. But iron-plates can only go so far. Yes.. a massacre.

As the sun went down and the golden light of the sun faded behind the horizon, the only thing that lit up Kolstein's small camp, situated about 200 meters from the road in case of any less-than-friendly travelers, was a campfire burning healthily with 2 sticks protruding from the ground right next to it, cooking the rabbits pierced onto them.

Urman was sitting on a fallen log right next to the fire with his helmet off, seemingly mesmerized by the dancing of the flames. Contrary to what most may thing, Urman was quite acutely aware of his surroundings even if he was lost in thought. He cannot protect his master if he doesn't sense a problem in the first place.

On a nearby tree branch was Kolstein, with his hood down and mask loosened to where it was hanging slightly on his chest while leaning his back against the bark. He was currently crunching numbers on a previously empty leatherback book, trying to figure out some ways of how he may be able to alter his spells or create new ones altogether.

"_Base Skyrim had 3 arts of destruction magic, those being Frost, Fire, and Shock" _spoke Kolstein to himself "_However, what's to say I can't create new elements? I maxed my destruction tree and as a result, I can clearly feel all three elements in me, in my magicka. What if I were to combine them? Would my Fire and Frost create water? Would-"_

"Master, may I ask a question?"

"Hmm?" Looking up from his book, Kolstein absorbs what his subordinate- "_No! Even though it is technically forced, its demeaning to refer to him as such. He seems happy enough, so he's my ally."... _his ally asked of him "Oh, yes Urman. What is it?" asked Kolstein as he eyed Urman in curiosity.

"If I may be so blunt…" waiting until he sees a nod from his master "What are you exactly? I mean no offense, but I mean, you move faster than any human I have ever seen. Also, you are both an excellent mage and swordmaster. How are you capable of this?"

"_Great, here it is. I guess I can trust him. It's not like he'll leave me or anything. Besides, I want him to trust me through natural means as well. If possible. And how old should I be? Well, in Skyrim, time flew by for me so how many in game days would that be?" _

Thinking about all the times he spent on the wiki, how many hours he had, numbers began to crunch in his head.

"_Well, I believe an hour and 12 minutes in real life was a day in game. Considering I have about 10000 hours in Skyrim, geez that's a lot, that equates to about 12000 in game days. Divided by 365 and that gets… about 33 years. Ok, then I'll just add my current age of 18 to it so I am considered older from age and to make my strength a bit more realistic. So I guess I'm 51 years old as of today" _thought Kolstein as he had to force down a chuckle.

"Well Urman, I am human. Partly." This got a confused look from him "Simply put, I am 3 different things. I am 1/3 human, 1/3 dragon and 1/3 vampire. It's the latter to that allow for me to maintain my youth even though I am 51."

Urman look surprised at first but seemed to almost expect it. Wasn't he afraid of vampires?

"Leave it to master to specialize in 3 amazing races. Your youth and power make perfect sense. I find myself drunk in loyalty after hearing the truth" getting down on his knee with a fist connecting to the dirt, facing Kolstein, Urman continued "Allow me to reintroduce myself, properly this time. I am Urman, ex-bandit leader and subordinate to Kolstein Nash. I am entirely human and am 42 years of age. I have plenty of experience in combat using two handed weapons and with the use of heavy armor. I desperately hope to be of use to you master!"

Finishing his introduction, Urman startled as a light thud sounded in front of him. Looking up, Urman met the eyes of a hoodless Kolstein standing a meter in front of him. Holding his right arm out, Kolstein grabbed a hold of Urmans shoulder and gazed into his eyes, light crimson orbs giving off a sense of kindness and mercy while exuding strength and authority. With a light smirk from the heart, Kolstein begins "Aye, you should be very helpful in my quests. Lets us scour this world and find it's riches. Allow us to meet new people. Explore the highest mountains and combat foes at the greatest of depths."

Standing up now, with the same smirk radiating content, pride, thrill and excitement, Kolstein removed his hand and held it out with his palm open to his ally. "Will you join me on my adventures, Urman?"

Already knowing the answer, Kolstein wasn't the least bit surprised when Urman grabbed his hand and shouted "Yes master!"

"Good. Now grab some food and get some rest. I am a vampire so I need little if any sleep. Until we get more subordinates or allies, I will be taking the night watch" said Kolstein with a stern voice, leaving no room for questioning. He didn't want to argue with his ally of what would be done. Urman hates when his master does things that are so trivial that they are far beneath him. Not much he can do when Kolstein puts it the way he did.

"_I'll have to get master to rely on me more in the future. I will prove myself to you master Kolstein, even if you say you have already accepted me."_

**The next day:**

"Welcome in, room will be 5 copper, 7 if you want food and drink" explained a gruff man in his late 40's, the man not even looking up, too busy polishing his glasses.

"Yes, thank you." placing 10 copper coins on the bar, Kolstein continued "I'm fine without food for now however I'd imagine a room for 2 would be double?"

"No, a double room will put you at 8 coins" the bar keep looked down at the 2 men in front of him, not too impressed at the gleam of copper-plates coming from the knights belt and the hooded man's right bicep.

"Alright, room on the second floor, furthest down the hall to the right." Slapping a key on the counter, which Urman grabbed with grace, the bar keep shouted to the receding backs of the two new adventurers "If you need food and drink, bar closes in 2 hours." "Thank you for the heads up, we might take you up on that. Until then.." replied Kolstein as he and his comrade walked down the hall to the staircase.

Getting to the room was simple enough, just down the hall on the second floor like the man said. Inside was what one would expect. 2 cots with green colored wool blankets spread out, bulging only by where the pillows rest were in either back corner of the room. Small bedside tables with candles allowed for light at night while a relatively large window took up the very back of the room, between the two beds. Otherwise, the only thing left was a desk and 2 chairs, both positioned at the desk that was hugging the wall.

Sitting down at the table, Kolstein layed out all the money they have. Emptying the coin pouch produced 2 gold coins, 5 silver and 23 copper. This was the money collected from the bandits that were killed at the battle the other day mixed with Urman's stash.

"Ok Urman. We are now honorary adventurers. It is quite mundane to need to begin at copper. I believe some test would be most beneficial to adequately depict what one is capable of, but I digress. We cannot continue without goals. A lack of goals increases the chance of laziness. But having a path to follow will cause us to ease our feels by not standing still, figuratively speaking, all the while forcing us to improve as warriors."

"Yes of course master. I agree 100%. That being said, what do you plan on having us do?" was Urman's response which was quickly answered by an expectant Kolstein.

"Yes well I came up with several short term and long term to keep us going" Kolstein began "For the long term, I have 2 goals set. One being our path to the top of the adventurers tier. Achieving adamantite class. The second is the procuration of, being a purchase or self-built, of a large compound, fort, dungeon, or even estate relatively close yet still out of reach from any major power, and that includes E-Rantel. We may be here now but I would like a safe haven for the future as well as a place where we can expand our ranks."

Urman pondered here. There was a few things he had wanted to know the answers to. Kolstein had mentioned earlier on the road that he wasn't looking for a 'blind slave' who followed their master's every word to a T, rather he wanted subordinates who could think for themselves. That would be most beneficial to Kolstein and his party. It was because of this that Urman felt he could at least ask a question, although almost regardless of what his master said, Urman would never go against his words in fact would follow them to his death if need be.

Nevertheless, he was curious.

"Master, if I may be so rude…"

"You may…"

"What are your plans? What do you hope to achieve with being the highest level adventurer out there and why need a compound?"

Kolstein pondered for a few seconds before answering "Well that quite simple. My ultimate goal is to be able to explore, meet new people and bring on adventure. Being the highest level adventurer possible will open up routes otherwise closed off. I will meet others who wield strength and meet people of great political power. Furthermore, it gives me reason to travel as I do due to longer quests that take me to more dangerous, wild locations." Urman ahhh* in realization, but maintained his attention to listen as Kolstein continued.

"The compound is for what I plan way in the future. I have no nefarious goal other than to do something I've always wanted to. Build a town." With this, Urman barely stifled a gasp, seeing as to this was the first time he heard of this.

"It has always been a dream of mine. I slay things. I destroy evil beings, towns of demons, legions of bandits, and so on. I enjoy these things and cannot picture myself halting." Kolstein grew a faraway look in his eye, seemingly pondering about his past "But I still dream for a place where people, regardless of whom or what even, can live in sanctity. It sounds whimsical and by no means do I admit to know how or when, but I've always had the feeling I would achieve my greatest euphoria while watching the town I've cultivated grow to become the safehaven for the innocent."

Kolstein once again looked down at Urman with the same grin from the other day. "And I want my subordinates, comrades and of course, that includes you, to be with me every step of the way."

To say Urman was shocked was an understatement. His eyes were almost saucers, and his legs were shaking. When did he start sitting down?

"_Master, you think that far ahead? I knew there was more to this feeling of loyalty. You impress me with every one of our conversations… yes, I shall follow you to the end, I will defend you and your town, if, no- when it comes around, with my life…"_

"Master, I sw-" Urman was cut off by an abrupt waving a hand from Kolstein. "Quiet" said the now-hooded man "I feel something odd."

"_2 people, one is small, a female. The other… I cannot sense, just hear. No wait, I can sense but not him, not biologically. Only his magic- oh right, in this world its mana. It's suppressed, but that's a LOT of mana. It a hair more then mine actually, or I think it would be without being suppressed. The girl is nothing to scoff at either. Maybe I'll take a quick look. They're at the bar right now…" _

"What is it master? Trouble?" Urman had put on his helmet and was running his hand along the handle of the axe strapped to his back, end sticking up by his left shoulder.

"Maybe although I don't think so Urman. I just want to check it out." Storing away the coins into the pouch with haste, the 2 men travel down the hall at a decent pace after locking the door behind them. "Do not act out of place and just grab a seat while I get us some drinks."

"Yes master" spoke Urman getting the memo. As they stepped down the stairs and through the end of the hall to where the path opens to the main hall where the bar and all the tables are, Kolstein catches what interested him; bartering slightly with the bar keep was a man standing at roughly 6 foot 7 inches tall, wearing a full suit of expensive looking black plate armor with 2 large greatswords on his back, hilts visible above either shoulder, and a red cape.

Next to him was a girl… a VERY attractive girl who was maybe 5 foot 4 and wearing a brown cloak covering her whole body from neck to her feet. She had jet black hair tied in a ponytail that reached the center of her back, with bangs just above her eye brows. She had stern features and looked around slightly with what looked to be… disgust?... very easily displayed disgust.

"_The girl seems to be adept with magic although nothing even comparable to me, not tryna brag here. But the big guy is a conundrum. His body is releasing zero heat and I can't sense a heartbeat. Also, the girl is strange too. Her heartbeat is too quick, much faster than a humans should be even when they are excited or under an adrenaline rush. Neither of those two are human, and I can almost guarantee that the armored one is undead."_

Finishing his assessment, Kolstein notices that the 2 in question are done with speaking to the innkeeper/bartender as they begin moving towards him, seemingly to head off to their room. Kolstein begins to move too, as he heads in the direction of the giant and vixen to head to the counter. Only meters away now, Kolstein notices the woman look towards him, face now crumpled in disdain.

"_Sigh* What the hell did I do? Do you just hate humans or something? That's probably it- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING URMAN?!"_

Just as suggested, Urman was no longer right behind Kolstein as he was now sprinting with everything he had towards the girl. To the people of the bar, most hadn't reacted yet, not perceptive enough to be able to even notice Urman at his speed considering most were tipsy or just too weak. Urman had gotten surprisingly fast although still probably only at the level of a silver or gold rank. Still though, he was quite fast which surprised Kolstein even more as the girl quickly sidestepped the axe while growling and whipping out her own sword and bringing it in for a extremely quick slash, now only an inch away from Urman's throat…

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**So what did you guys think of the slightly longer chapter? I wanted to lengthen it a bit as per some requests and now there's going to be less explanations than at the beginning so pacing should be a bit better.**

**Again, suggestions and criticisms are always welcome, just please give reasoning behind critique and try to keep in mind its my first fic. All reviews so far have been positive and kept the 'my first fic' in mind so I've been motivated to keep going. **

**So thank you all.**

**Bye for now **


	5. Sight of Death

**(Insert short summary of what I want to say and/or think here)**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

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**Sight of Death**

"_Wait what? What's happening?" _thought the dark haired vixen, Narberal Gamma, going by the name Nabe. In front of her was a man she hated upon seeing him. This man, this… _thing _for some reason got beneath her skin. His lightly scuffed armor reflected minimal light, his black cloak covering most of his body and his helmet showed little to nothing although Narberal didn't care.

A human was a human and all humans are exceedingly weak.

She was able to restrain herself to a simple glare as she was going to walk by the man in armor and his companion, a man who wasn't looking at her; rather he was gazing at her lord, Momo- I mean Ainz Ooal Gown, who was slowly walking next to her. She couldn't stand the look of inquisition at her lord and wanted to kill the weakling but remained calm enough with just watching him with disdain.

That was until the armored man she had just forgotten about rushed her. He was faster than the humans she's seen so far, mostly common foot soldiers of the Re-Estize kingdom and some of the Slane Theocracy's mages, but still quite a bit slower than her. From his posture and size, she presumed him to be like all other brutes; heavy and direct with 'strong attacks' and no agility. Quotes on strong due to her being far stronger than any human even though she's only 5 foot 4.

Nevertheless, she sidestepped the swing that came a tad faster than expected but still not fast enough as she whipped out her blade at about 3/4 the speed she was capable of, not really giving it her all still capable of being seen as a blur to anyone in the room excluding her lord.

What came next was the situation she found herself in now… the situation which caused her confusion. Instead of being met with the hard clang of metal being slashed through by the, to her understanding, materialistically superior blade cutting through his armor and the clean lacerating of flesh causing a decapitation, she heard nothing but 2 soft thumps.

Blinking, Narberal looked around and saw, and heard, that nobody was moving or talking. All eyes in the bar were on her and the man. She looked down to see the other man of the pair, the hooded and cloaked man with armor which, although looked like it offered little protection, was still well designed in her eyes. She saw him standing slightly off to her right, holding her sword by the middle of the blade, keeping it an inch from his friends neck. He had caught the blade with his hands.

"_I couldn't even see him…"_

"Urman, put your weapon down" spoke the mysterious man with authority as his gaze turned towards the floor to Narberal's left. Following the man's look, Narberal was, outwardly unimpressed, but internally shocked to see the hooded man had his foot on the shaking blade of a war axe, one that was being held by the man now named Urman.

Somewhere in her counter attack, this Urman had brought his axe down to his right side and tried sneaking an uppercut, that too having been blocked by the hooded fellow. He took his foot off of the axe when he felt it go slack, just as he requested his partner to do.

Urman put the weapons onto his back once more, never having his eyes leave Narberal.

"I would appreciate it if you could also remove your weapon miss." Spoke the interceptor as Narberal only stared at him.

The giant with black armor finally spoke up "Nabe! Remove your blade and sheath your weapon. Enough trouble has been caused as is." Narberal quickly removed the sword and sheathed it, all the while taking a step back, emitting a low growl at the two in front of her. Both the hooded man and her lord Ainz brought their hands up high. Everyone was expecting the two to go at each other, destruction would ensue.

Just as people began to fear the silence, both men brought down their respective arms for a slight karate chop on each of their allies's head, seemingly berating their respective companions. "Please sir, forgive Urman here for acting out of line. He endangered the life of your comrade unnecessarily" said the hooded man all the while forcing Urmans head with his right hand into a bow. Mimicking the gesture, Ainz brought his own head to a slight bow, putting his left hand on Nabe's head, pushing her into a deeper one. "No, that reaction is natural considering the disrespect. Please, forgive my not keeping check on my ally."

"Of course, that is quite alright" started the man "Although, that does not warrant his assault so I do not wish to have this a recurring issue considering our occupation" taking notice to Ainz and Co's copper-plates "It seems we are both underestimated by the guild."

"Ah yes you would be correct. I would like to be going on more difficult missions right off the bat however there is little I can do." "_This guy is really strange. He seems human although I can sense quite the power in him, more than I've seen before. I should find out more of him later." _"Nevertheless, we may need to work together in the future, in which case it may be useful to have one anothers birthrights. I am Momon, a newly appointed adventurer, and this is my comrade, Nabe. She is a mage while I am a warrior who shields her."

Ainz looks at the man expectantly. "Ahh yes of course. Greetings Sir Momon" turning to Nabe "And Miss Nabe. I am Kolstein and this is my comrade Urman. We too are new adventurers so I hope we can work well in the future." The now named Kolstein extends his hand for a shake. Although Nabe has a hesitant, angry look in her eyes, Ainz meets the gesture with practiced ease "Likewise. A pleasure to meet you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a room to get to." Getting a nod from Kolstein, Ainz and Nabe continue past the duo and to their room, away from sight.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"Interesting" murmured Kolstein to himself. Noticing the eyes still on him, Kolstein begins to leave "Come Urman, we should be off to our first mission. Little did Kolstein know, his thoughts were being mirrored in the other room as he was leaving the building. "_Who was that man? He gives me a strange vibe… I need to figure out who he is and if he's a threat."_

Both Ainz and Kolstein look up at their general directions simultaneously, even though they are unaware of each others actions and are rather far apart.

"I will find out who Kolstein/Momon really is…"

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"Master? Is there a reason for your displeasure?"

"Sigh* no not really. Well, other then the fact that we are stuck out here looking for a group of goblins is all." Spoke Kolstein as he was walking on a small path made by various hunters and the like in the Great Forest of Tob, just north of E-Rantel.

"This is a mission meant for copper plates, but didn't you mention some strange beasts here that were supposed to be pretty difficult? Not that I really mind, just how could they give a quest where dangerous monsters may be lurking to fresh-out-of-the-gate adventurers?" asked Kolstein, looking up from his spell book.

"I am not too sure, but nothing we cannot handle. I doubt there is much that can defeat you master"

"Hmm. Thank you for your support Urman"

"Always, Master"

As the two were searching for signatures and evidence of a goblin camp of some kind, they came across a clearing with a diameter of 15 meters. "Hmm" Kolstein hummed "Why don't stop here for now? Urman, stand a bit further away and practice a bit whilst I throw around some spell ideas."

A nod was Urman's response as he moved towards the edge of the clearing and started swinging his axe at a shadow opponent. He was getting quite good.

"_Alright, so next on my agenda is conjuration. The school was good before, but lackluster considering the bare quantity of summonings. Furthermore, I was locked to 2 at a time in Skyrim. Boring… but now I can feel that restraint gone. I can conjure more beings than that, although for now, I want to add on to one rather than having several." _

After having thought about a few concepts for conjurations, all Kolstein could really do was try to alter pre existing ones, and only ones he could control to a great degree. Such as the elements…

"Greater Flame Atronach" was all he muttered as his magicka condensed into a pitch black ball, wisps of shadow flicking around his hand and forearm before he released the ball, firing it about 5 meters in front of him.

"_The Greater Flame Atronach is a simple Flame Atronach, just with an increase in magicka output. I threw in 5 times the magicka for this one. That took about 1/20th of my magicka to cast, but its regeni- oh it's back to full. I have quite the regeneration. Although, I'm not in combat yet so it hasn't slowed down…"_

A blast of fire and heat brought him out of his musings as he looked up once more to see a flaming vortex 3 meters in diameter and 10 meters tall as it slowly opened up to reveal what appeared to be a Flame Atronach but this one was masculine rather than having the body of a woman as it did in Skyrim.

It was hovering in the air, about a meter off of the ground. Broad shoulders with two arms of course, although missing its legs, them being capped off by the knees. Its head was that of a mans just with a black, scorched mask covering the bottom half of its face. It also sported sharp eyes without any pupils, replaced by a fiery glow. No hair; just flames there as well. Ultimately, it was something like a condensed flame in the shape of a man with black outlines and patterns adorning it's 'skin.' It stood roughly 8 feet tall, not including it's hovering height.

"Now that's pretty badass"

"Master! I didn't know you could summon things!" exclaimed Urman in glee "That looks powerful! What is it? What can it do?"

"Well Urman, it's called a Greater Flame Atronach and it's not a summons; it's a conjuration" began Kolstein "With regards to what it's capable of…"

"_Hmmmm… well, I can personally feel that it really has no time limit. It will more than likely stay as long as it isn't put out by something. The magicka I put into it is almost like its own. It's still mine and listens to me, just it moves on its own and can regenerate magicka when out of combat, really slowly that is."_

"_Otherwise, from what I can just feel and from previous knowledge, I'm pretty sure it can cast Flame, Firebolt and, if I'm right, Fireball. The only difference is that it should be 5 times stronger than vanilla which is kind of overpowered" _Looking down at the base of the atronach "_and its burning the crap out of the ground although I can tell its stopping the flames from moving. It has decent fire manipulation... It's trying to keep harm from me. Awww how cute."_

"Well Urman, its abilities are what you'd expect. Manipulation of fire essentially" Urman nodded at this, still amazed at the conjuration in front of him "Now, Greater Flame Atronach, go into the woods and head east bound in search of goblins. Slay them when they come and if you find yourself in a sticky situation or are completed with your mission, shoot a fireball in the air. I will spot it and come to you."

Upon hearing its orders, the atronach made a slight inclination of its head, showing it understood its task. Turning to leave, Kolstein shouts "And do not attack anything else unless you are threatened"

The atronach leaves both men behind as Kolstein turns to Urman "So, show me some more moves before we head back out. I want to fix your movement on this strike…"

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"Ohh nice catch!"

"Thank you Jugem sir!"

A small group of goblins stirred near the village called Carne. They had been summoned there by some means and were now dedicated to the village that housed its summoner. The current troop were only a few hundred meters into the woods just outside the village's newly built wooden fence, courtesy of the dozen summoned goblins.

"_Another successful hunt" _thought Jugem, the leader of the goblin group "_I hope Lady Enri is a fan of pork! This area is filled with boar…"_

His thoughts were cut short by a blood curdling scream that reached all the way back to the village, barely picked up by a short, blond haired teenage girl. "_Oh no was that a scream? I should go check it out.." _"Mr. Goblin?" shouted the girl to the nearest green man, rivaling the dwarves in height. "Yes Miss Enri?" "I'm going into the forest to investigate a noise. I'll be back soon." "Please wait just a moment, I will join you with some of the others. It is, afterall, our duty to protect you" explained the goblin as he quickly rushed off.

"_I hope you are ok Jugem" _were Enri's thoughts as she patiently waited for her envoy_._

No more than 5 minutes later, Enri and he escort of 7 goblins met up with Jugem and his 3 goblins with him. "Jugem, are you ok? Is anyone hurt?" asked Enri, voice laced in worry. "Please do not worry for now Lady Enri, although you should not have come. I sense something evil about." He took a look around his surroundings, eying every shadow. Noticing a presence further in the woods, the goblin leader shouts "Men, watch over Lady Enri at all costs, something's coming!"

The goblins shifted in a pattern which circled Enri but allowed them to see the light coming from the west. It was dim, a bit into the forest but just bright enough to notice.

The bushes rustled, getting everyone to stand on edge only to relax a bit to see one of their own come out. "Hey! You scared us half to death! Where wer-" Jugem's voice was cut off when he noticed the burns running along his comrades body. Covering his right side was charred layer of skin that seemed to reach the bone. His eyelid was sealed shut from some intense heat having melted his eye, keeping it from opening. Before anyone could overcome their shock naturally and leap to his aid, another yell filled the area, this time the source was the man they worried for.

"RUN!" was all he could scream before a blast of fire shoved its way through the forest behind the goblin, engulfing him in flames as he burnt to a crisp in front of the distraught eyes of the group before hitting the ground. Enri was mortified by the scene but not everyone felt the same way yet. The goblins would have were they not in charge of protecting their master.

"Lady Enri! We must flee!" shouted one of the goblins as they were about to depart only to find what could be described as a nightmare in front of them. A flaming giant standing… hovering at 8-9 feet tall without legs and large, burning arms. Coming through the brush, burning away the branches and bushes it came up against, it entered the groups field of view perfectly.

Enri and Co were frozen in shock and fear. Before anyone could interpret what happened, the flaming man grew even brighter as it lit up the shadows formed by the canopy, its blazing heat causing the group 10 meters away to sweat all the while scorching the grass between them.

It appeared to look at them only to lift its right hand up and grasp at an imaginary ball which condensed a flame, collecting it in its palm. The monstrosity lifted it's arm entirely and opened its hand, allowing the ball of fire to accelerate towards the group in front of it, growing in size quickly to half a meter in diameter after just leaving its hand.

The flame grew bigger in their view as it flew closer, only 5 meters away now…

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**Alright so that one took a bit for me to write. I've been taking my time throughout my days to write these and this one got me in a bit of a block. I was at a loss of how to continue one of the scenes earlier but I thought it played out alright.**

**Regardless, I have a break coming up these next weeks from my education so I will most likely be free most days allowing me to write more but that also means I will more than likely be with friends and family away on trips and the like. If I don't post daily or even for several days, that will be why although I personally refuse to take longer than 3 or 4 days to post for now. Just the mode I'm in.**

**Getting to some more interesting fights soon so expect some good encounters in the next few chapters although again, I've never written a fleshed out 1v1 before so that will be interesting for me. I guess I'll have to see then I guess.**

**As always, critique is appreciated although this time, I would like to hear some objective thoughts on the interaction with Narberal. Could you paint an okay image of what was going on there or was it kind of just a blur with you not really understanding what happened?**

**Also wanted to put in this kind of key. **

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

**Until we meet again**

**Bye for now **


	6. Clash of Interests

**So for the few that care, last chapter had poor grammar for at least a little while before I fixed it. Sometimes, I write these things pretty late at night or real early in the mornings so just keep that into consideration. If I'm extra tired, I don't double check so that could lead to issues.**

**This chapter will progress the story of course and it's going to have one of the 'bigger' encounters as I'd call it. I hope it holds your interests well enough.**

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Clash of Interests**

The fireball was quickly approaching the small group of goblins who were attempting to shield their master, Enri. "_Damnit! I need to get her out of here"_ thought Jugem as he rushed towards said master, about to grab her and bolt just as something flew in and intercepting the fireball.

"Dang, you guys sure were in a pickle huh?" were the words that came out in a feminine tone. As the group, now no longer blinded by the fireball as it had died down in intensity, looked forwards, they saw a teenage girl with red hair tied in two braids going down either side of her back. She was wearing a maid outfit with the classic black and white accents. She adorned a friendly smile on her face.

She was wielding a strange weapon, something that wouldn't be strange to hang up as a religious symbol. It was all black with the exception of a light brown handle wrap. Its head was a star shaped circle with 4 small blades sticking out, one on each side of the circle. The weapon was abnormally large, longer than the girl was tall and as such was placed on her back at an angle as to keep it from grazing the ground.

The woman had used said weapon to completely block the fireball, which of course shocked the spectators. Never had any of them seen an attack like what that fire… spirit?... had used nor had they witnessed somebody block something of that caliber.

Coming out of her frozen state, Enri asked with trepidation "Who are you miss?"

"Me? My names Lupusregina and don't worry, we can talk more once I've taken care of this thing. It should only take a few moments so you guys can go on ahead. I'll catch up soon."

Enri looked at the red head with concern at her having to take on such a monster alone, however she just shook her after the thought of her soldiering through that attack earlier. "Ok, but please get back safely. I want to thank the person who saved our lives."

"Yea yea, just get goin" spoke Lupusregina as she turned back to the fire being, the others now long gone from their spot and heading back to the village.

"I don't really care what you are, but you attacked the village's people, well, Enri is the only person there that mattered, but still. I guess I'll just have to take you down real quick…" before Lupusregina could finish her sentence, the fiery creature lifted it's left hand high into the air and fired an equally large fireball as before only to have it explode after traveling about 100 meters straight up.

"_Hmm either that thing has terrible aim or it's tryna do something" thought the red head "Whatever, I'll put it down right quick."_ Lupusregina began moving towards the creature with slow steps.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"_That influx of energy… there! I feel the blast. It came from the Greater Flame Atronach."_

"Come Urman, we need to go to my conjuration. It has signaled us, although it is much too quick for it to have finished its job. It must have met some sort of trouble."

"Yes master!"

Kolstein and Urman began heading towards the blast which could easily be seen from their location 3 kilometers away. They were running at a good speed; a heavy jog for Urman as to not wind him, of which could equate to a crawl for Kolstein but he bared with it. Upon traveling through a kilometer or so of thick forest, Kolstein's senses tingled. "Urman, stop."

Having both stopped, Urman instantly knew something was amok considering his master had stopped for seemingly no reason. Looking around aimlessly, Urman failed to notice Kolstein's gaze, looking straight towards some branches to his left.

"I do not know who you are, but I would advise you to come out of hiding and run along little one" was all Kolstein said as Urman now was trying to see what his master had spotted.

"Aww how could you see me?" came the voice of a child. "You must be pretty good with your sensory abilities."

Out from some leaves higher in the trees where Kolstein was looking came a child, a small elf. "_A dark elf?" _thought Kolstein. "_Interesting. First one I've seen." _The kid was wearing a sleeveless, buttoned white shirt with gold trimming and matching white pants. A golden chain necklace was worn around, now believed to be a girl, her neck which contrasted the red, long sleeve shirt under it. Short, tomboyish blond hair accentuated her pointed ears and her strange eyes; the left one green and the right purple. All in all, she appeared to be an 11 year old tomboy.

"_How could I only sense her when she came this close? She must be good… Whatever, still not good enough to stop me although she's quite a bit stronger than even that girl Nabe from the city. Interesting... "_

"I'll have you know I may be a kid but I'm by far your senior. I actually turned 70 not too long ago." said the girl with pride evident in her voice.

"I see. Well as much as I'm interested in your age, I have somewhere to be, so if you'll excuse me little one…" spoke Kolstein as he and his up till now silent comrade were heading to leave, Kolstein quickly grabbed Urman and threw him to the side before jumping away himself, dodging some invisible attack by a microsecond.

"_Damnit, I sensed that thing ages ago, around the same time as the elf but It moved faster than I thought it would. I just wasn't paying attention." _"I must say, it is quite rude to have your pet chameleon attack me on my way out…"

As soon as he spoke those words, the aforementioned chameleon showed itself. It had just deactivated its active camouflage which would normally render it invisible to most. It was quite large, sitting at about 6-7 meters long with 3 legs on either side. Its green body showed off its lime and red colored eyes well.

"_How could this human spot Itzamna? He's better than I thought. I will not allow him to move past though. Lord Ainz told me to scope out this forest and give information on what might be dangerous. I was bored till_ _just now, surrounded by such weak creatures although I need to report him to Albedo. He could be a threat if he gets away." _

Finishing her thought, the elf brought her left hand up to her ear and started speaking. Kolstein couldn't hear what she was saying and had no real idea what she was doing. "_Damn. I sense more tamed beasts around here. Two others if I'm right and both are as strong as this Chameleon. To hell with it. Maybe I should stop holding back? Show off a bit?"_

At this point, Kolstein just wanted to skip right by this dark elf but was restricted considering Urman was there. "_If I leave him, even if only for a few minutes, this girl is going to demolish him… I'll handle this quickly…"_

"Child, can you humor me for a second? Allow me to know your name… I am Kolstein Nash, a copper-plated adventurer." spoke Kolstein, waiting for the kid to respond.

Upon hearing him, the girl put down he hand and looked at him with an apologetic look. "Hey man, I'm sorry but copper plate isn't impressive. Not like any of you humans could compare to us but I feel really bad for you. Whatever, I've been told to bring your body back with me for… experimentation…" She openly cringed "Not that I have anything to do with it. Anyhow, I can at least tell you my name. I'm Aura! I'm going to have to take you down now…"

The now named Aura disappeared from sight before appearing behind Kolstein. Urman saw her when it was too late. "NOO! MASTER!"

Aura moved quick and with her hand, she moved in for a quick jab to end his life when…

"Owwwww! What the hell is that?!" Aura's hand was blocked by the armor Kolstein was wearing. "Hmm? You think you can kill me with just your bare hands? Well, in that case, you have another thing coming." said Kolstein, voice calm yet cold.

Aura went in for a kick to his shoulder but was countered when Kolstein whipped around and grabbed her ankle, using the new-found grip to hurl her towards the nearest tree. Aura landed with her feet gripping the bark. "_Damn, he's better than I thought…" _A shout brought Aura out of her musings

"Liz Slen Nus! (Ice Flesh Statue)" yelled Kolstein as a wave of quick moving frost moved towards Aura. Looking around, she saw the trees, grass, even the soil, in a width of 20 meters freezing as if made from solid ice. The wave was quickly approaching her so she pulled out her weapon of choice; a whip. She shot the long coiled strands of leather out towards the gust in an attempt to quell it, but her attack was just that. An attempt.

Moving without pause, even after the attack, the frozen wave struck a shocked Aura head on and freezing her in a block of ice. The block remained solid for a few seconds before shaking and subsequently shattering. "That was good, I'm not gonna lie. You actually got me-" Aura was cut off when she could no longer breath. She felt a sharp pain in her chest and when she looked down, there was only a shard of Ice sticking through, having come from behind. Aura, in her panic, punched the ice out as quick as possible and healed herself, sealing the wound.

"_Oh no, this guy is a lot stronger than anything we've seen so far in the new world. I'm not sure I can take him out. I couldn't even see that last attack… and what was that language he shouted in?" _

Noticing the spike in energy this time due to her being prepared, Aura looked to her left towards the magic power she felt only to see Kolstein surrounded by a frost covered ground around him. He still had his mask on and the shadows covered most of his features but now his eyes were glowing a deep crimson.

"_A vampire?" _was all Aura managed to think before noticing the water in the air surrounding Kolstein condensing and cooling, forming 7, meter long spikes of translucent white ice. Without a word, the hooded man sent all 7 spikes, traveling slightly behind one another, at great speeds. Aura could just barely dodge before she was met while still in mid air from her jump. Kolstein was now right in front of her and shouted some words that Aura could not hear nor understand were she even to have heard them.

A great force hit her at point blank, forcing her to the ground where she lost consciousness.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"_Ughh that mission was totally stupid. They had me follow some guy around town, watching out for robbers. That's the job of the town guard. Whatever gets you up the ranks I guess." _thought Ainz as he was just coming back from his first quest. He was in the throne room of Nazarick. He had just barely gotten his self-created armor off of him when the leader of the floor guardians, Albedo approached him.

"Welcome back lord Ainz, have you had a good first day? It must have been dreadful being surrounded by all of those weaklings." said the women dressed in white.

"No Albedo, it wasn't all too bad however the mission itself left something to be desired."

"I see, well, Lord Ainz, it seems we have an issue."

Slightly startled by those words and the sudden seriousness in Albedo's voice, Ainz questioned her. "What's wrong? Has something happened to Nazarick?"

"Well that's the problem. Nazarick itself is fine but I cannot get in contact with Aura. The last message I got from her was 10 minutes ago where she asked about a foolish opponent she thought was of interest. Asked if I thought it would be best to give her support. I just told her to take care of it and bring it back alive; it might be useful in Nazarick's testing…"

"YOU FOOL!" yelled Ainz, causing Albedo to visibly flinch. An outside force seemed to calm Ainz down from his sudden anger which allowed him to voice his next concerns. "Why would you do that? Aura could have been in a tight situation. I prioritize the denizens of Nazarick, my floor guardians, safety long before the tombs success. You should have informed me at once."

Ainz was pacing for a few seconds before turning to, a now melancholy, Albedo again. "Dawn your gear and message for Demiurge to meet us here within the minute. We are teleporting to Aura's last known location."

It only took the minute given to get Demiurge and have both of them ready for combat. Ainz adorned his mask but otherwise wore the same clothing as usual. This time, however, he brought with him his staff. The staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. The very same staff that his whole clan created in the span of a few years, the very weapons equivalent to any a world class item.

With all three now present, Ainz gave Demiurge a run down of what they know, no matter how small, and began the teleportation.

"Gate" exclaimed Ainz which caused a black portal big enough to fit himself through appeared. After all three stepped out the other side, they were met with just a normal forest.

"Look Lord Ainz, over there. I don't remember a clearing." said Demiurge as the rest of the group took notice to what he was seeing. They approached the missing sector of trees and were stunned, not by the carnage per say, rather, what lay amongst it.

There was a section of trees that had frozen, solid sculpture-esk ice formations that encompassed trees in a straight line 20 meters wide and 30 meters long. Towards the end of that distance however lie no trees, in fact there was no ice either. The path of frozen soil and vegetation extended to a crater some 3 meters deep and 10 meters in diameter. It was as if a bomb had been dropped, one with not much of a blast considering none of the nearby ice melted nor any scorch marks present, but powerful enough to hollow out a semi sphere from the hardened earth.

In the middle of the crater was a lifeless form of a child. The blonde hair had blood, that was seeping from its forehead, crusted between its locks. The darkened skin was covered in small cuts and bruises caused by multiple impacts and its arm was bent out of place.

Upon closer inspection, the corpse was that of Aura, one of the dark elf twins of Nazarick.

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**Alright so this one took an extra day. I was at a loss as to what to write exactly and I'm busy during the days as right. As such, this pattern will continue although I hope it's worth it since I feel the story is progressing nicely.**

**I wonder how Ainz will feel after seeing one of his 'children' at death's door after being in that world for only like a week?**

**I guess you'll just have to wait.**

**Bye for now**


	7. The Great Encounter

**Dang ok I guess people liked the last chapter because I got a good influx of favorites and reviews. It genuinely makes me happy to see that. Anyhow, appreciate the reviews as always. I enjoy and promote critique but seeing a few here and there which just say how they enjoyed the chapter or what they think of the characters boost me just as much.**

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**The Great Encounter**

"_Oh thank god" _were Ainz's first thoughts as he went down to check on Aura, feeling that she was still faintly breathing. After they discovered her, the three that came to investigate had all been quite baffled and, in Ainz's case, exceedingly worried that he had just lost one of his precious 'children.'

Ainz was beginning to lose it before that same outside force calmed him down enough to think rationally and check on the body.

"Albedo" was all he needed to say before said being nodded her head and walked over to Aura, beginning to heal her. The body began its reparations thanks to the magic sent over to aid it however as her complexion brightened and scaring repaired, Aura just didn't wake up.

After 3 minutes, Albedo was starting to lose patience. "Aura! You are disrespecting Lord Ainz and wasting our time! It's not bad enough that you lost but you-" She was cut off by an irate Lord who just turned to glare her into silence. Turning back, Ainz noticed something. Now, her body was fine; cuts healed, bruises receded. But… the problem was her consciousness… her body functioned but her eyes opened and had lost that same color they had before, face blank of emotions.

It was almost as if her very soul was missing.

"Albedo, take her back to Nazarick. We will look at her soon. Quickly return so that we can deal with the threat" said Ainz as he felt a battle going on to the east.

Albedo left with the corpse-like body leaving Ainz and Demiurge to themselves. "What do you think of this, Demiurge?"

"Well, Lord Ainz, although it disappoints me to no ends that Aura lost to a… being… in this forest, it only goes to show that there are threats that we need to look into in order to cement ourselves as this world's strongest."

Ainz thought for a second before replying "Yes, I do believe that there is far more out there than many of us give credit to. We must remain diligent and always remember to watch what we do from now on." Noticing Albedo stepping out of the portal, having just returned, Ainz continues "Once we get back, Albedo, Demiurge; set Nazarick's defences up to the next level. Do not waste resources towards maximizing our defensive capabilities for now. From the look of it, it appears our home is not in danger, rather our ability to leave it."

After getting slight bows and affirmatives from both parties, they began heading in the direction of the fighting. Moving quickly had them upon the ends of a battle rather quickly. They came to an opening in the trees, having been created by intense heat burning the wood. On entry, they spotted a slightly annoyed and winded Lupusregina with a burn or two on her right arm and a pile of smoldering ash a few meters in front of her.

"Dang, that guy was harder than I thought." began the red head. "Only a bit though…" Lupusregina was brought out of her monologue when Ainz spoke. "Lupusregina, it seems you've had an eventful afternoon."

The maid turned around to see her two superiors and her Lord in front of her. Without missing a beat, she took a knee and greeted the three. After relaying information of her bout, Ainz began to ponder. "_Could it have been some fire elemental? Well, it couldn't have been natural. Those things shouldn't exist in the forests let alone one so close to a village. They would have been well known considering they to make quite a scene."_

"This could be tied to whomever it was who bested Aura. We must remain vigilant…"

"Aye, you would be right good sir." Everyone present darted their line of sight to the left, up in the trees, to see the hooded man from earlier in the bar. "_Kolstein?" _thought Ainz, now beginning to notice him. "Who are you, and what do you mean? Are you responsible for the fire elemental?"

"I am not one for theatrics. Pause with your idiocy and allow us to continue with a decent conversation _Momonga_."

"_Momonga? How did he know that I was him? This guy was pretty fast back at the bar but I doubt he could best Aura like that… and how could he make an elemental?"_

"Ahh, I see, it appears you have discovered me. That is a problem." while speaking, Albedo and Demiurge were openly glaring at the intruder, none the wiser as to who he was and how their lord knew him. The latter of the two and Lupusregina kept half an eye on the other man with Kolstein, a man in silverish armor and a black cloak.

Jumping down from his spot on the tree branch, Kolstein moved closer to the group of four with Urman just a step behind him to the right. "Well, it isn't that hard to tell you apart. You had quite the strange aura when I met you in the armor." said Kolstein, eyes moving about as he surveyed the area a bit, looking for hidden hostiles. "Listen, I have no idea who you really are and quite frankly, I don't care so long as you aren't causing unnecessary issues. I can understand hiding your identity to help others considering your… appearance... however I do feel there may be ulterior motives."

"I digress. If that dark elf was one of you, then I apologize. I typically do not appreciate being attacked out of nowhere and have the life of my comrade endangered. So, I believe I shall take my leave. We can converse later if need be…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Demiurge threw up some magic field that surrounded the entire area in a diameter of 400 meters. The field fluttered for a second before becoming transparent. Kolstein looked around in confusion, seeing as nothing seemed to happen to him. "Lord, this vermin can no longer leave the area. Teleportation is completely out of the question and outside forces cannot enter without our permission." spoke Demiurge as he still kept an eye on the two foes standing 20 meters ahead of them in the clearing.

"Good Demiurge, and I believe we will be getting our help too. Can never be to overprepared, especially against a foe of which we know nothing about."

As soon as he spoke those words, a black portal, caused by the gate spell, opened next to Ainz and out came several individuals. An irate vampire called Shalltear who visibly brightened upon seeing her lord came out first, followed by an old man with white shaggy hair and beard, wearing a classic, black, butlers uniform named Sebas. Behind him was what could only be described as a behemoth; an insect-esk blue carapace with two large mandibles as a mouth. Two of his four arms were occupied by weapons, one a large blade and the other a halberd. On his back were two glacier-like protrusions that could be seen from the front, and by his tail bone was just that. A long, armored tail with a spiked end. This one was Cocytus. Behind him was Mare, another dark elf, looking as if it was the other's twin. Only this one was a wearing a skirt, although most could tell it to be a boy even considering his feminine appearance. He looked greatly concerned, his attention being primarily on the other dark elf he was supporting with his right shoulder, having the same elf from before who was completely slack with no apparent movement or emotion. Like a dead doll.

The new additions to the gathering all stood in a line either to the left or right of their lord. The entire area had tension running so high it could be cut with a butter knife if one tried. Seven glares and a doll-like stare found their way to one 'human' standing no more than 20 meters away.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Urman was officially scared shitless. He now found himself in a bout of killer intent, all of the monstrosities aiming it towards his master. He would have lashed out were it not for his self preservation and the calm demeanor of his master. "_How can master Kolstein be so relaxed at this time? He is strong, exceedingly so but against all of them? When we watched the ending moments of that girl's bout with the Greater Fire Atronach, I could tell from but a glance that even though she took a few injuries, they were just from carelessness. I wouldn't last 5 seconds if she was serious. Not only is she against master now, but she's accompanied by beings with even greater evil in them. How can we get out of this…"_

Kolstein was thinking to himself of the very same predicament as well. "_Damnit, this guy has a LOT of strong subordinates. I want to escape but how? Hmm, I can't take them on like this. All of them at once is far too much. Two, maybe three or four depending on who. But not all seven, especially not with an irritated 'lord' with them." _Kolstein turned slightly to look at his own comrade. "_Hmm, I got it. I'll convince this guy to let Urman leave considering he's pretty innocent. This 'Momonga' seems like a decent guy I guess. He should except. Then, after I give him time to have gotten a bit further away, I'll do that…"_

"Alright. Well, it seems you are dead set on this. Well then, I will give my name, again, and hope that you can be more truthful this time." began Kolstein as he brought his left hand to the hilt of his Dawnbreaker and the other hand on his hip. "I am Kolstein Nash, a copper-plated adventurer. And whom might you be?"

Stepping forward a bit, the robed being exclaimed "I am Ainz Ooal Gown. These are my subordinates. And you shall perish for your actions, Kolstein."

"_Figures" _"Well, I can see that you are not in the mood for negotiations. However, if you aid me in one way, I shall help you in another."

"Speak."

"Well, you see, before we start our bout, I'd like my comrade here to be given the opportunity to leave. He is quite innocent and has nothing to do with the current goings-on." Urman looked at his master with surprise, on the verge of speaking up. He was shot down before he could even open his mouth when he got a look from Kolstein that was easily decipherable as one that meant for him to just trust his master. He hesitantly did so.

"Hmm ok, and what do I get in return? You did say we could make a deal…" The rest of the being's party stared at their lord, seemingly surprised he would willingly negotiate with such a lesser being. They turned back to Kolstein, waiting for his response.

It took no more than 2 seconds before an answer befell their ears. "I can fix your little problem." Pointing to the corpse-like body of Aura, the rest glared at him but one voice sounded hopeful. "You can?" came the feminine voice of the other elf, tears threatening to leak from the corners of his eyes while he looked hopefully at the hooded man.

Kolstein sighed, not really wanting to have hurt someone like that with his little stunt. "Yes, honestly, I can't bare to look at a child who's crying in such a manor. Here, you can take it." Kolstein brought forth a blue gem that glowed in great radiance. It fit in the palm of his hand comfortably before he lobbed it over to the skirt-wearing elf, only to have an angry vampire girl in front of the crystals trajectory.

"We are not foolish enough to trust you or your items mongrel" snapped the pale skinned girl as she brought her claw forward to smash the gem before she heard a yell. "STOP SHALLTEAR!" shouted Ainz as he watched the gem with hope. The now named Shalltear moved out of the way, upset at being wordlessly reprimanded by her lord. The gem was caught perfectly in the hands of the dark elf.

"That is called a Grand Soul Gem. Before ending her life, I decided it would be better to use a soul trap and absorb her spirit into the gem. All you need to do is add in your own magic to the gem for about 10 seconds, crush the gem at its pique brightness and subsequently cover the body you want the soul to enter with the powdered crystal. You should visibly see the soul entering the body then."

As he finished his explanation, many were hesitant and still very much angry at this mere human but the small elf boy had glee induced tears running down his cheeks. Even the vampire seemed to exhale a sigh she didn't know was being held in.

"There you go, now I believe that should be enough. Urman, turn around and start running. I hope we'll meet each other soon." Looking with great hesitation in his body, Urman curtly nodded and replied with trust in his voice before taking off "Please come back to me safe, master!"

With Urman gone, Kolstein cracked his neck before facing the others once more. As everyone was looking at him now with unfiltered hate with the exception of the elf, who was driven to a sense of relief all on to his own, Kolstein was spoken to once more by Ainz.

"You are quite noble for prioritizing your subordinate before yourself and willing to risk death as you are. I also thank you for sparing the life of my own subordinate and even providing a means to her 'revival,' however, you still pose a threat and must be dealt with." As Ainz finished, he took off his mask and revealed the face of a skeleton, which didn't seem to surprise Kolstein one bit. The old man from before readied his fists in a martial-arts stance. The black armored woman threw out her large axe. The vampire pulled out a large syringe-like lance and wore blood-red armor with an opening by the face. The giant insect prepared his two weapons. The red headed maid pulled out her 'religious symbol.' Finally, the demon like, suit wearing man whipped out a set of claws on each hand.

Ainz spoke again, readying himself by propping up his own staff. "Do you have any final words? They shall be remembered as the words from our first great threat. The first real problem our tomb has had…"

Kolstein was surrounded by a slight haze, a fog. It just barely covered his form but when it dissipated, out came the same man but now adorned with sharp, black armor which gleamed in the sunset just hitting the horizon to his back. It had plates running down his shoulders that met with his equally menacing gauntlets. A single plate of black was fastened to his front side by his chest, following the curvature of the rest of the armor as it smoothly transitioned to plates moving along down his legs. His helmet concealed everything but his now brightly glowing red eyes. Two wing-like pieces of metal came off his mask, similar to Urman's just not as long or quite as wing-like. A pitch-black cloak fluttered in the low breeze, lifting up slightly, accentuating the stance he took. Knees bent, a gentle lean forwards. His left hand now carrying a shield, seemingly made of the same material as his armor. It was about as big as his torso and he held it out firmly in front of him.

In his right hand was not Dawnbreaker, but rather something new. A wide pommel bottomed an intricate handle that met with a hilt that curved over top his fingers. The blade was jagged on both sides, the front being a bit longer, extending above the rest. The red accents of the blade really stood out along with the subtle red glow of ember-like veins reaching up and down both sides of the cutting edge. The sword would have reached his chest if placed tip down on the ground. It exuded the power of a demon, a weapon that should be feared.

"_I hope a full suit of Ebony does me well. This shield should work too. But the sword is a bit of an experiment. I mean, I'm no longer in a game, so what's stopping me from breaking some rules? Both my one handed and two handed skills are maxed out to hell and I have put as many points in there as I can… so whos to say I can't one hand a Daedric Greatsword?"_

The others would have been getting impatient at the 20 seconds it was taking Kolstein to answer although they were too busy assessing his change of apparel. They were brought out of their musing by a firm, confident but not arrogant voice which was laced with the deep emotions of a true warrior; one of honor yet, as much as it sounds so, a not-so out of place curiosity.

"An insect, a half human, a vampire, an undead, two demons, a half dragon and…" he looked ever so slightly towards the two elves. "An elf doll and a...crying elf."

All wind stopped and Kolstein looked forward once again.

"Show me what it means to be strong."

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**For those interested to see how the equipment looks, google the following items:**

**Daedric Greatsword**

**Ebony Armor**

**Ebony Shield**

**Oooo spooky ending right there. I hope the little bits of info here and there and the scene descriptions were ok. I tried to make sure that the scenes were painted decently enough so that one could tell roughly where they were and to depict the emotions/feelings of the scenes that I was going for.**

**I don't know how you guys think it turned out although maybe that last scene there was a lot cooler in my head. It would definitely be a lot cooler in an anime. The music stops as everyone waits for Kolstein's response sort of thing seems kind of cool to me.**

**I don't know, maybe I'm just being weird.**

**Bye for now**


	8. Rivalries Forged

**Not gonna lie, a lot of the last few reviews I read had me cracking up. I know it was a bit of a cliff hanger, that's the point :)**

**Somebody mentioned how much they hated the OC I have so I'm genuinely curious as to what the rest of you think. Is Kolstein a shitty MC or how do you feel? I think he acts appropriately. I mean, if I were to be in his shoes, I'd probably be doing something similar. Lets face it, Alex/Kolstein was a bored, lonely teenager who was transferred to another world with essentially pretty OP powers. He'd obviously want to try them and if he can make get a companion/guide in the process, even if its kind of forced, I still think it's reasonable.**

**Urman was a bandit, considered, in that world, as bad as a monster. Criminals who raped, pillaged, killed to their heart's content. I don't think it would be inherently evil to use someone like that. Kolstein's even being kind to Urman, calling him a companion and indulging him with his questions.**

**Idk, here's the next chapter.**

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Rivalries Forged**

"Show me what it means to be strong" was all Kolstein needed to say before Shalltear took off. In less than a second, she covered the distance between the two. Bringing her lance up, Kolstein blocked the frontal attack with ease.

Kolstein's eyes darted around while his other senses helped ascertain what was going on around him. A light scuffle of feet on the grass, a sudden feminine fragrance and an ever so subtle temperature differentiation was enough evidence to suggest Sebas was approaching his rear directly, still 10 meters away but closing the distance fast; Cocytus to his left, bring his halberd up in a large swing, moving in conjunction with Albedo's own weapon held high, coming in for a downward stroke to his right. "_Good teamwork… but not good enough" _thought Kolstein as he prepared himself.

The armored man ducked slightly under the crushing force of the halberd and subsequently plunged his sword into the hardened dirt below, using it as a pivoting point to swing his body around it. Dodging Albedo's axe in the movement, Kolstein used his centrifugal force to throw himself into the air some 5 meters, effectively getting him outside of the range of Sebas's fists.

Kolstein, now in mid air, found himself noticing Shalltear preparing to take flight with Demiurge already having taken to the skys. From above, the demon shouted "Aspect of the Devil: Tentacle Wings" which caused the immediate sky to be filled with black specks which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be small tentacles traveling at high speeds. Seeing the attack a mile away, Kolstein planned his next move quickly.

"_I need to take care of a few close-range fighters. There are far too many people involved but the CQB is overwhelming me. Ok. Here goes…"_

"Wuld Nah Kest! (Whirlwind Fury Tempest)" shouted Kolstein as he accelerated to an extreme degree. Even to Ainz, he was but a blur. Not noticing the breach of personal space in time, Sebas could only look at his foe to his left before a diagonal cut spliced through his butlers garb. The wound was relatively shallow due to the attempted dodge, only managing to slice through an inch of flesh. But it was enough.

"AHRGH! What is this!?" screamed Sebas, covering his wound with his right hand all the while kicking up dust as he continued sliding back from the force of the blow. Kolstein and the rest stopped; he was now being surrounded on all four sides by Albedo, Cocytus, Shalltear and Sebas still in front, only this time with Demiurge at his side.

The wound was under Demiurges scrutinizing gaze. "_Nothing normal can cause such a wound. What is that blade." _"Sebas, it would be best to heal yourself, no?" stated Demiurge as he was preparing to enter combat again until he got a response. "I… cannot… this wound is… abnormal." Demiurge looked down again but, this time, only to see the cut had changed.

It was no longer bleeding. Rather, all flesh surrounding the wound was frozen solid. Ice had crystalized any tissue in the area causing freeze burns. Strangely enough, there were also veins of glowing crimson, burning to the touch, erupting in all directions from the ice. It was as if the frost had some sort of scorching effect and it was very easy to see the pain sculpted on Sebas's face.

"I will answer the unasked question." All heads turned to the deep voice of their opponent. "You are worthy foes so I will give you the knowledge here. This is one of my blades, the Daedric Greatsword. Not only is it demonic in nature, allowing a level of sharpness not able to be replicated in almost any material but it's very durability is near peerless. It has two enchantments on it as well. A strong fire enchant interlaced with a powerful frost one. The fire enchant was placed over top of the frost. It is for that reason that the blade only gives off its crimson hue."

Finishing his explanation, the denizens of Nazarick were mostly preparing for the battle to come. "_What human can wield this weapon?" _was a common thought, just as common as "_Who is he exactly?" _Finally, there was one last thought amongst all of the guardians who were currently engaged. "_He must be taken down. A true threat has been sighted." _Being interrupted from their musings by Ainz, all parties met his gaze. "Hmm, quite impressive. Although a short bout, you were able to keep up with my guardians. Well done. Now it is time to finish things. Guardians, move back. Lets test his strength against others from Nazarick." Acknowledging his orders, all guardians present moved away from Kolstein, Demiurge lending aid to Sebas in the meantime.

"Summon! Primal Water Elemental!" shouted Ainz as he held forth his staff. The blue gem sitting in one of the snake's mouths on the staff glowed brilliantly for but a second before the moisture in the air condensed and began swirling about 15 meters from Kolstein. The water kept increasing in speed before flying up in the form of a water spout before calming down and dispersing, only to reveal the summon. It was in the shape of a woman with mangled, thin arms and from the hip down was a whirlpool-esk water body keeping the 'woman' hovering off of the ground. The face was completely blank with water also coursing through, the current behind the 'face' molding well into the hair as it draped down to 'her' midsection.

"This water elemental is the strongest of all the water elementals and one of the 5 strongest summons this staff has to offer. Its level is in the the early 90's; consider that information given as courtesy for the knowledge of you blade." spoke Ainz with some pride at his summons and… glee?... present in his tone? "Now then, Primal Water Elemental! Attack the armored man!" As soon as he issued the commands, the elemental brought its hands together and shot a concentrated stream of water towards the foe.

Dodging the attack with ease, Kolstein was thinking quickly while still on his feet. "_I need to get out of here. If he can summon a few more of those on top of the people already here, then I really don't stand a chance right now. I need to be more prepared. It won't be as strong considering it's weakness to the element, but my own conjuration should hold the others off. But first, before I summon, let me show them what it means to be dovahkiin…"_

Kolstein stood still, everyone watched with bated breath as the elemental shot forth an even larger stream of water, this one 10 meters in diameter and explusing enough force to rip apart the land and vegetation all around. Kolstein spoke calmly yet swiftly. If they were normal people, no one from the tomb's forces would have heard him. They are not normal people.

"I guess it is time for me to show how I defeated Aura, not that I couldn't use something else." This grabbed everyone's attention, even Sebas, who was still hurting a bit even after the frost having died down, brought his gaze up to meet the foe.

The water moved forward at a great pace, 10 meters from him.

5 meters.

3 meters.

1 meter…

"Fus Ro Dah! (Force Balance Push)" Kolstein all but screamed as the earth around him cracked under the great pressure. The water blast was instantly thwarted, being effortlessly brushed to the side, making way for the blast of compressed power. The force traveled the 15 meters to the elemental, creating an even bigger channel than the water and causing all dust and debri in a 20 meter width to kick up into the air. The force slammed into the elemental and caused all the water that held it together to erupt into an unquantifiable number of individual droplets. The water sprayed back and was felt by the crew of Nazarick.

Everyone was left stunned by the display of power. Even Ainz was utterly shocked at how such a 'spell' could be used without him even sensing it. "_Such force! That should be at least of the tenth tier, probably higher… and it wasn't even mp based. He just said some words I've never heard and… could it be wild magic?"_

"Ok, now that the elemental is out of the way" Kolstein's voice brought everyone out of their musings. "Now it's my turn."

"_Time to pump as much as I think possible at the moment for this. I practiced with that other guy for a reason…" _Forming a ball of pure black with wisps of shadow licking his forearms as the ball calmly swirled in his clenched fingers, Kolstein called out, mostly for effect, "Ultimate Flame Atronach!"

Appearing 20 meters in front of Kolstein, also 20 meters from Ainz and Co, a shadowy sphere approximately 10 meters in diameter swirled clockwise like a contained hurricane. The black ball-like energy dispersed to show a 10 meter tall, hovering flame spirit. Not unlike the Greater Flame Atronach, the difference here lay with the 2 meter increase in height as well as the armored appearance. Charcoal-black shoulder plates with glowing red trimming intermingled with adjoining cables of flame which held in place a sort of chest piece. It wore a helmet as well, made of the same 'material' and had 2 horns near the top that folded towards its back. Each horn was about 6 inches long. The fire radiating from the elemental burnt all grass and brush 10 meters around it to ash almost immediately.

The tombs 'soldiers' felt the heat, almost searingly so.

"Ultimate Flame Atronach, attack the group of fiends!" was Kolstein's voiced command as the atronach spent no time dwelling on it's orders.

The group sprang into action, working together to take down the elemental. If they really wanted to, essentially any of them could take it on solo with the exception of Sebas who would have a difficult time due to his injury and Aura who was, well… still down for the count. Even though they could deal with it individually did not mean that they had the time to do so. They did not want to give Kolstein the chance to flee.

"_This elemental- nay, atronach is tough, but not tough enough." _thought Demiurge as he entered the fray once more.

"_Holy crap, this guy has everything!" _thought a currently confused and overall perplexed Ainz. "_He changes styles left and right. A new sword here, armor coming out of nowhere and now he summons this kind of thing? What next? A bunch of bullshit new 'spells' like he used before…" _

As the flame atronach was being defeated, Ainz could hear a familiar/unfamiliar language filling the air once more. "Od Ah Viing! (Snow Hunter Wing)" yelled Kolstein, his voice echoing throughout the whole area as Ainz mentally slapped himself. "_Of course, I just can't keep my metaphorical mouth shut."_

Everyone was brought out of their thoughts of self-beration/victory over the atronach as suddenly a loud roar filled the air. Looking around, Demiurge was the first to notice an issue present. "_My barrier was breached. And so easily too…"_

From the north came the same roar, only louder as it drew ever closer. As the noise disappeared and nothing was heard for 10 seconds or so, Ainz thought it must have been a coincidence before he spotted a large creature flying right over the tree line.

It's sharp, grey wings effortlessly gave the creature flight as its barbed tail that snuck down it's body swung in the air behind it. Its mouth was covered with dozens of razor sharp teeth that lined its gums, each one larger than a hand. The creatures scales were jagged and their hard nature cut through the wind like butter as it dove ever closer to the ground, just above Kolstein as he jumped straight up, reaching the lizard that was flying quickly some 15 meters off of the ground.

"_A dragon!? What the hell man! So not fair!" _thought a frantic Ainz as he could only stare at the faltering image of Kolstein on the beast's back as he took off with a speed greater than what was capable from his flight-inducing items.

"Lord Ainz" spoke the now ever vigilant and slightly distressed Albedo. "Allow us to tail him. We must not let him escape. He is too strong and he even has dragons on his side-" "Silence." interrupted Ainz in a voice filled with irritation yet also remained a tinge of subtle calmness. "We cannot go after him. We are not fast enough as we are now and, as you say, he has dragons with him. What's to say he won't just summon more of them?" Ainz appeared to be thinking before he continued. "This man is definitely our greatest hindrance for the time being. Temporarily set Nazarick's defences to maximum. We cannot allow any leaks or attempted infiltrations."

Stealing a glance at the dark elf child he considers one of his daughters, "And I also want to bring Aura back to us as soon as we can. Which reminds me, you and I need to speak in more detail about your sending her on her own." Albedo visibly paled although not that anyone could see her face through her armor. Albedo merely nodded and bowed before leaving to go forth with her task, the rest of the guardians following her lead.

"Lupusregina, I am keeping you here at Carne Village. Try come up with anything for this damage. Just say that you fought that elemental you were attacking earlier and then return home for a full report." The red head, still slightly dazed by the last few hours still achieved a deep bow before exclaiming "I will do my best, Lord Ainz."

"_Man, this is such a chore. Who are you Kolstein Nash? You are our enemy although I can feel that you could just as easily be our comrade." _Turning to join the others for the creation of the Gate to bring them home, Ainz turns to look back in the direction of the now long-gone speck that used to be Kolstein's receding form.

"_Thanks… for keeping her alive. Strange as it seems, I will repay that kindness."_

Ainz activates his Gate and everyone is gone in the blink of an eye, no one being the wiser as to what exactly happened there.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"**Dovahkiin, you summon me at a strange time. Who were those beings?"**

"Please, don't worry about it too much. I'll explain some other day."

Seeming to accept the response for now, the summons continued on its way with his summoner on his back, telling him to change direction every so often.

While they were searching, Kolstein was deep in thought…

"_Holy shit! What the hell just happened?! That fight was intense… I didn't use my best equipment nor was I using any spells but still! That was a strong elemental too. Unrelenting Force just barely took care of it… whatever, next time I'll try some other equipment and have some stronger allies with me. Oh hey, there he is."_

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"_Pant*_ _Pant*_ Master… _Pant*... _I hope your... _Pant*... _doing fine right now... _Pant*_"

Urman had been running for what felt like ages although it was something closer to an hour. He had come quite the distance. The armor was not AS heavy as one might believe and he was no slouch at running. Kolstein worked him to the ground for him to get stronger. Not that he minded. He was actually grateful, especially since Kolstein was acting with Urman's best interests in mind as well.

Urman noticed a shadow forming in front of him. Small at first, like a cannonball, but it rapidly grew in size in just a few seconds. He began to look up before his gaze was forced down by pressurized wind, keeping him from seeing the intrusion.

"Oi, Urman." "_Master?" _"You need a ride? You look kind of tired" half joked the voice who Urman believed to be his master.

Urman was right. There was his master. In the clearing that was just created by the wind.

On a dragon.

Urman fainted.

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**Haha I liked that ending personally. I thought the fight turned out well enough. For anyone who might want a better idea as to what Kolstein did to avoid the attack from Albedo and Sebas which also threw him into the sky, I drew inspiration from another game.**

**I believe it was in Dark Souls 3 where when the player equipped the blade garnered by killing the abyss watchers, you hold a large-ish knife in your left hand. The ashen one uses the blade to move around, stabbing the knife into the ground to be able to turn in mid attack. Try googling it, it's really cool and I thought I'd be a nice touch for Kolstein to show some of the skill he gets by having maxed out 1 handed and 2 handed.**

**Again, reviews are very much appreciated. I only answer those that have questions or get information wrong, not that that's happened yet, or just simply thanking ones that give critique and answering if I made a mistake and am aware of it or if it's intentional kind of thing.**

**I read every review I get no matter what and I have accepted every guest review I've gotten so far. If someone has some criticism, so long as it isn't blatant flaming, I don't see a reason as to why I shouldn't incorporate it.**

**Bye for now **


	9. Beginnings to Bonds

**Ok guys, just wanted to let you know that these next few chapters will be taking a little longer to push out. Family coming over mixed with exams for my final year of highschool puts me at this sort of area where I need to balance my studying more.**

**Because, you know, I'm just so smart that I started writing a story consisting of 20 thousand + words so far right when my exam crunch period rolled in.**

**Hope you can forgive me :)**

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Beginnings to Bonds**

"Oh, about time…" came the muttering of a calm voice through blowing wind. Urman stirred awake, slowly moving to an upright position before he noticed the ground of where he was resting. Rather, there was no ground.

He was high in the sky, some hundred meters distance from the tree canopy. Withholding a gasp due to his understanding that he was flying somehow, Urman was brought to attention from the voice he followed so diligently.

"So, you're finally awake?" Turning his head came the view of his master. Master Kolstein, who was situated on the head of a dragon, had his back facing Urman, the only recognizable feature that dictated his interest in the confused companion was a slight twist of the neck, sort of craning to get a view of him.

"Master Kolstein" he began "H-how did you get a dragon to fly us? Where are we going? How did the fight go? What is that armor?" The questions came flying out of Urman's mouth before he was abruptly stopped by a light chuckle.

"Now now Urman, one question at a time" said Kolstein with an amused-tinted tone. "First, this dragon is an old friend. Him and I go way back. Essentially, we are comrades of whom decided that, should the situation warrant the aid, we shall skirmish in the interest of the other." After saying this, Kolstein's posture loosened ever so slightly before he rested a hand on one of the many scales covering his friend's body.

"The fight itself went on just fine. They were difficult and produced a challenge that wasn't expected. One of the factors for my retreat lay with the concern for their comrade's life as well as their lack of knowledge on my energies and skills. I didn't leave without causing some damage of course and I may have also garnered some leniency in the future." "_Giving them the soul of that elf may end up giving me some bonus points in Ainz's eyes if something were to happen in the future."_

After having ended that last thought, Urman seemed to relax as well, understanding that his master was now fine. "_One day, master, I will be strong enough to fight beside you and lead you to your safety. One day…"_

"This armor" the voice bringing Urman out of his musings "Derives from the same place as all other equipment in my possession. Simply put, I have acquired many sets of armors and weapons and I intend to use them. This set is one of my stronger pieces, in fact, I may end up giving this to you someday. After all, you do frequent heavy armor, am I correct?"

Urman was shocked at the proposition of wielding this armor, but shook his head much to Kolstein's surprise. "I thank you master, however I wish to grow on my own first. Gaining strength through equipment will only allow me to cut corners in my development."

"My thoughts exactly. I'm not even letting you touch the armor until I've approved of it." Kolstein smirked seeing Urman's slightly dejected face before quickly steeling itself once more. "Yes, master!"

"Good. Now, finally, we are headed to the north west. The royal capital to the Re-Estize Kingdom is where we shall make our claim. There is an adventurers guild there, of course, and we are more 'in the fray', if you will. We can better monitor Ainz and his subordinates should we need to."

Urman tensed at the proposition of another encounter with them. "_They were strong. Master confirmed that. Even he said they were tough all at once. What if they come after him? What if they bring more people and are more prepared? What if-" _

"You know Urman, I can read you like an open book." Urman looked back up to Kolstein. "Don't be so nervous. They are strong, yes, but I doubt they will aimlessly come after us. They are quite a ways away. We have traveled quick and have already hit E-Pespel but that is still another day away from the capital, even on the dragon. We should be safe there. Just keep up your guard and report whatever event that might seem suspicious to you. All you can do is grow stronger during this time so that you can become better at holding off the small fry from that group while I bout with the leader." Following that sentiment was a wide grin which sought another combat situation with the beings.

Urman reciprocated the facial feature with his own.

"Now then, get some rest. We will continue our adventures in the capital. You need to strengthen yourself through quests and I need to learn some neet new tricks."

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

The capital was not too different from E-Rantel really. Not at first. One difference that was made known quickly was the size. It was easily twice the capacity, if not more, than their previous location for questing. Moving through the front gates was easy enough. A quick flash of the plates they wore, of course already having ditched the dragon, and an explanation of their want to join up with the guild here instead got them to the other side.

Further into the city, while looking for the guild hall, Kolstein noticed the nicer housing. It was nothing extremely rich in color or design, but it was still far superior to anything he'd seen so far in this world.

Kolstein was now in a new gear set. He decided that he wanted something light yet exceedingly protective. Standing out was not needed, or really wanted, but to a quick glance it didn't seem like much, however, having a lingering eye take hold of its features might cause some attention.

The entire chest down to the waist was covered in downward-facing scales, each one light gray in coloration and about as big as the average man's hand. The same scales wrapped around his back and merged with the plates going down to a small skirt covered in the same scales that overhung his armored legs. The plates continued down both arms and legs, filling every inch with the sole exception of the inner elbow, armpits and behind the knee. Even without armor, extremely thick yet pliable hide covered the supposedly weakened areas. Gauntlets and boots that matched in both material and color scheme protected the ends of his 4 appendages. His shoulder pads had several horns protruding out in all directions by 2 or 3 inches at the longest.

The helmet he wore was also quite protective. The very same scaling covered his head from all directions excluding the face which still had the plates curving around his head by the mouth. 4 horns escaped the helmet, flowing backwards in a slight upward arc. Covering his face was a black bandana which covered up to us nose, leaving only the bridge and eyes visible, no longer shielded by the shadows of the nightingale hood. A cloak finalized the look, the same as before, charcoal black cloth that was fringed at the end indicating scuffle and experience. It covered his shoulders but, like before, revealed his front. The Dragon Scale Armor would prove to be his best personal set of light armor.

The hood on the back of the cloak would remain downed considering it posed no purpose due to the helmets obstruction. The cloth would have run smooth along his back were it not for the slight bumps barely perceptible to the naked eye. This lumps were his newest weapons.

Crisscrossed on his back were 2 one handed swords. Over his left shoulder was the angled hilt of his daedric sword. It was very similar to his two-handed sword of the same quality, only this on was smaller and curved only the slightest bit. It also had a similar red vein-system running all along the blade just this one was blood red and pulsing rather than the glowering flame it used to be. This was due to its enchantments, those being Absorption, which allowed the wielder to gain vitality at the expense of the person sliced, and Soul Trap which served two purposes, unlike the game.

The first was that, like Skyrim, you could trap souls in soul gems. There were experiments Kolstein wanted to do with regards to this, like putting an animal's soul, for example, in an already dead person's body. If that was possible, then it wouldn't be too out of the ballpark to assume that he could place a creature's soul in the body of a bandit he just killed in order to use a more powerful variant of the Raise Zombie spell.

The second feature is that the souls themselves passively refill the blades charge, causing it to basically never run out of its charge. This also applies to the rest of the weaponry he uses as well so the one blade charges the rest.

Onto the other pommel and hilt sticking out over the left shoulder, courtesy of the 'Insanity's Sword Replacer' mod back when he was still playing a game, came his Ebony Sword. Its blade was a straight, double edged bar of blacked metal which sheened greatly in the sunlight; or would have if it wasn't currently sheathed. Along both sides of the blade, running down the handguard all the way to the pommel, were small wisps of golden plating, darkened through the wear of combat. With the exception of the gold trimming and mesmerizing glint of the swords metal, the weapon had a standard handguard, darkened-wood grip and rounded pommel.

However, that's just the blade itself. Seemingly grafted to the blade was it's enchantment. This blade had, again, glistening veins with a bright blue coloration which only truly shined in use. This shade comes from the powerful shock or lightning enchant ingrained within. Although very powerful and made with the best of materials and maxed out smithing skill when in the game, it only possessed the one enchant considering it was done pre maxing out the enchantment tree. The sword was still exceedingly powerful and was just as sharp as the daedric sword, just maybe not as durable.

As they were walking towards the guild building, more than a few heads turned their way although seldom did the gazes stay, turning back to whatever tasks they needed tending to, already under the assumption two ordinary adventurers were walking through town.

Upon reaching the guild building, Kolstein was at first semi-inundated by the gleaming panes of glass and brilliant white scaffolding but quickly overcame the slight awe and continued inside. It was simple enough within; wooden floors which had some green carpeting covering the left side of the room. On top of the carpet was a whole slew of different tables, most empty, but some carrying the hungered gazes of adventurers of different skills looking for a bite to eat. The place offered food at one section, for coin of course, and had a desk some 10 meters in front of the doors with a bulletin board directly next to it, bearing the quests.

"_Yup, still can't read" _thought Kolstein glancing at the board "_I'll just have Urman look at it later." _

Moving over to the bar where beverages and food was served, Kolstein offered Urman something to eat which was kindly refused before he was betrayed by his rumbling gut, so Kolstein ended up buying some tea and a sandwich of his choice for him, getting the same combination for himself. After depositing the coins, the two moved over to one of the tables in the corner, next to a table of adventurers who had almost no one close to them.

More than a few people looked their way, trying to ascertain who the new faces belonged to before looking away after being caught by a slightly irate Urman. They sat down, upon which Urman took off his helmet, revealing his short unkempt hair and stubble which replaced his beard from before. He had shaved a few days prior.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"Come on shorty, I'm tellin' ya it was about as big as a shed hahahaha!" exclaimed a man-woman?- in heavy, purple plate armor. A short, red cape adorned her back, huddling over her shoulders. She had neck-length blonde hair and a silver headband going around her skull.

Another individual, the proclaimed 'shorty' responded. "Why are you telling me this? Once is enough, regardless of if I believe you or not. On to more pressing matters, do you believe the eight fingers base found yesterday will yield any promising evidence to potential employers?" the child-like, red cloaked girl said. Her cloak covered most of her body except her front, which showed off her slightly ripped, black dress that went to her thighs. The hood came over her head; accompanying the white mask with a gem in at the forehead and strange emblems, only a few locks of hair could escape the combined effort of 'incarceration.'

"I'm not really too sure what to believe really, Evileye. All I can say is that I'm ready to pound whoever I can when we find out whos behind this shit…"

"Gagaran, enough. Not everything is about blatantly smashing in one's enemies..."

Brought out of her talk by a man's presence being verbally enforced, the now named Evileye and her comrade Gagaran turned to see what the commotion was about.

There were 5 iron plates that had walked up to the table behind Evileye, some 3 meters away, where 2 copper plates were sitting.

"Well I don't assume that the little tea drinking children sitting here are new warriors now are you?" provoked the man, clearly wanting to start a fight. The man with scuffed plate armor and a gray cloak was visibly annoyed but after glancing at his partner decided to go with his flow and ignore the quintuplet, going back to his consumables. "Oh so you think your better than us?" said another of the unremarkable looking 5. "Well we were just thinking of joining you but your attitude pisses me off! Let's take this outside!"

Once again ignoring them, the duo seem rather calm. One of the 5 decided that their little stunt is getting a bit out of hand, so he steps back and moves towards his seat at the bar, earning a few "tch"'s from his teammates. The man who spoke first went to grab the other, black cloaked man by the shoulder. Great force obvious in the way he was throwing his arm down.

"I was talking to you asshole!"

Catching his hand an inch before it touched him, the cloaked man spun his arm around quickly, placing it in a lock around his back and pushing up. "Can you not just let us rest? We've had a long few days…" spoke the man in some now-visible scaled armor.

The others from the group pulled out small daggers from their holsters. "You ass! Let go of him!" Rushing him only ended in disaster as Evileye had had enough and intervened by placing a small ice spell between the two involved, just enough to stop the attack.

She spoke with authority. "What do you think your doing in the guild hall? This is a place for adventurers to collect quests and relax alike. A sanctuary which you are putting at risk. Simply put, I'm telling you to knock it off."

As she narrowed her eyes still hidden by her mask, she looked slightly to the right to see that the man who had his arm in a lock was now on the floor, cradling said arm while it was still throbbing. The armored man was still there but the black cloaked, scale armored man was gone. She heard a grunt behind her and noticed a small blade just a few inches from her back, courtesy of the 5th man who had gone back to the bar and snuck up on Evileye who was clearly still somewhat relaxed in her 'sanctuary.' The blade was being held back by a firm, armored gauntlet holding his wrist. Following the arm lead back to the slight crimson eyes of the scale armored man.

He had saved her life.

From a steel dagger?

"_I'm pathetic…"_

"That's enough. Go back to your spots and stop bothering us. We're enjoying a simple meal." Urman was also out of his seat, hand grazing the handle of his axe over his shoulder.

"Pfff fine. We'll take care of this later then, cowards." said the man who appeared to be the ringleader. As the group reluctantly moved away, this time leaving the establishment entirely, Evileye approached her 'savior.' "T-thanks for the assist stranger. I didn't n-notice that man move in from behind. I shouldn't have to be wary in the guild hall."

"No worries. Attacking without reason is quite strange really, I can't help but question his mentality." said the man whilst eying the door. Everyone who had been watching the scuffle turned their view back to the food in front of them, discussions and idle chit chat now back at full force.

Evileye meanwhile was deep in thought. "_This guy, he moved so fast. I couldn't sense him at all. Maybe that has to do with my heart not beating? This hasn't happened in so long… he's so… cool!"_

"Anyway, I'm Lady Gagaran, adamantite class adventurer from Blue Rose. Wanna head back to my place later and we can have some fun?" said the large woman with slight mirth flowing through her words.

Appearing confused, the man answered "Thanks but I think I'll pass. Excuse the late introductions. My name is Kolstein Nash and this" he points to his partner "Is my comrade Urman. We are both copper plated adventurers although that only means we started recently. We have both been warriors for quite some time before this."

After a respectful bow from Urman, everyone turned to face Evileye, unbeknownst to the rest of them, causing her to go red in the face at the attention of the now named Kolstein.

"Oh forgive me. I am Evileye, also an adamantite from Blue Rose. Pleased to meet you Sir Kolstein, Urman."

"The pleasure is mine Lady Evileye, Lady Gagaran." Evileye was about to interject with a 'please call me…' before she herself was interrupted by Kolstein. "Urman and I should go. We are going to be heading out on a quest now but the Royal Capital is now our home. Maybe we will see eachother around town here and there? Be seeing you." And with that, the two were gone.

Evileye watched their backs recede towards the quest board before being brought back by Gagaran. "I don't know about the shiny one but Kolstein is definitely not copper plate in skill. He was much too quick."

"I know, even I couldn't track him him when he moved." Learning this startled Gagaran a bit but Evileye continued regardless. "I want to get to him better. Could be useful in future expeditions to have a strong adventurer in the lower ranks. Cheap yet reliable."

Evileye clasped her hands together, the gesture hidden by her cloak. "_I need to get to know him better. I haven't felt like this in decades…"_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Alright so I wanted to add here at the end something quick about those who don't like what's going on with Evileye here. First off, she's… **_**quite**_… **weak compared to Kolstein so no she couldn't track him there of course, even if he wasn't too serious.**

**Also, this is before Evileye meets Ainz which is much later on. I'm gonna be frank, I like Evileye a lot as a character and it pained me knowing that her 'love' for Ainz would be a complete one way street. And come on, he's an undead. Why you gotta do my girl Evileye like that?**

**Regardless, no, this doesn't mean I am going to be writing some sappy love fic about Evileye and Kolstein. You never know, she might be a romantic interest later but at least for the foreseeable future, I was just planning on having her be a close friend/comrade in arms with Kolstein.**

**I'm saying this because I don't want any strange reviews going on about "I wanted Kolstein with Albedo" or some other **_**insert character.**_

**As always, appreciate reviews a crap ton with the sole exception of rampant flaming and the aforementioned love interest topic, or at least until I potentially bring it up later. Again, you never know.**

**Also, real talk. In the next chapter, I was going to mention the enchants he has on his armor and other equipment. But it will be at least a few hundred words I'd imagine. That being said, opinion time. Do you prefer ;**

**A: I go over with a rough explanation in the chapter regarding the enchants**

**B: I add like a note in the beginning, like where I have my kind of 'author's notes' which would just be like a list of items and enchants? It would be shorter and easily skipped if wanted and save space for the rest of the story but might not flow as well with the plot.**

**Bye for now**


	10. Armed to the Teeth

**Alright so last chapter was more just setting up various circumstances for the main 'protagonists' if you will. I just wanted to let you know that I have every intention of expanding Kolstein's group of friends.**

**By that I simply mean that I do NOT intend on having Kolstein and Urman adventuring alone. Some more people will be added in time. The whole crew of which I have not decided although I do know for certain that there will be no more than 5, including Kolstein himself.**

**After some PMs and a decent bit of thought, I'm taking the "A" approach with reference to the question asked at the end of the last chapter. Just a rough explanation of the enchants for his gear considering I'm expecting people here to be at least semi-well versed in the Skyrim universe and also all enchants I'm using will be vanilla.**

**That being said, this chapter, technically, doesn't need to be read. It is mostly just discussing the enchants of the equipment being wielded. However, there are some other things like the workings and understandings of how smithing functions that some people might find interesting.**

**Anyhow, I would definitely recommend reading this chapter either way considering it holds important information for the future and I would like it if people read the chapter I worked on for hours haha.**

**But like I said, it isn't entirely necessary so feel free to skip over it if you want to.**

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Armed to the Teeth**

Kolstein and Urman could be seen walking through a small forest path, a dirt road no more than 3 meters wide, uneven from the wear of natural life and slim use. The two men were walking side by side with the sun coming through the tree's canopy where leaves failed to obscure the rays. It was warm, but not uncomfortably so, especially with a slight breeze moving in from the rear every so often.

"_This is almost serene…" _thought Kolstein before having his thoughts interrupted. "Master, can I ask you something?"

"Of course Urman. What's wrong?"

"Oh, uhh, nothing per say. It's just, I was wondering about your apparel."

"Specify."

"Hmmm. I mean what is it? You seem to change armors every so often, the same goes with weaponry. I myself was given this armor by you so I must ask about where you got them and what their abilities are, if I may be so bold…" spoke Urman, shrinking a bit towards the end after thinking of a boundary he may have just crossed.

"My, aren't you inquisitive." remarked Kolstein. "Very well, I can explain a few things."

"You see, I have something that you might call a knack for spacial magic, even if only to a slight degree. It is for that ability that I am able to hold a vast quantity of items and materials, although not infinite." "_That's about the best way for me to explain the inventory, although it is still different. I don't seem to be affected in any way by the weight although there does seem to be a limit. From my knowledge of the game and the armor/weapon's weight values, I should have between 2-3 metric tons worth of 'weight' capacity if you will, although it is probably closer to volume rather than weight."_

"I have been around many places, met many people and crafted many sets of items. My 'item storage,' let's call it that, is almost like a reflection of my past. The battles I've been in and so on. For example, that armor your wearing is a strong heavy armor simply called steel plate. It is different than normal steel plate however."

"How so?'

"Well, I crafted that armor a long time ago. I've seen others use it before but when I crafted it, I also reinforced it so the one you are wearing is more than likely the most 'powerful' set of this variant of steel plate." At knowing this, Urman, who had his helmet off due to the relaxed environment and sunshine, visibly smirked. "_To think even something like this was created by Master. I knew it was good considering the lack of scuffs from various attacks I've taken since I've gotten the set, but it's apparently better than I anticipated." _

"The set is made from steel, of course, but also corundum. Naturally, corundum is a rather frail material. As a crystal, its extremely hard but brittle. Creating an alloy of steel and the crystal makes it almost like a best of both worlds. You see, the metal that's created is still just called corundum due to a 'metallic' corundum not officially existing in nature. That being said, the ingot produced has the melting point of steel, the… 'hardness'... of corundum, that of which is often compared to diamond, while also retaining the steel's weight and tensile strength. Of course, there are in fact multiple different kinds of corundum but implying that the aluminum oxide with trace amounts of titanium and chromium is involved, the above mentioned information holds true."

Kolstein could see the lack of understanding in Urman's face.

"_Damn, I can't really explain facts of science to him. I doubt they've even discovered chromium or titanium here. Hmm, how do I put this…"_

"Ok Urman, what is the hardest thing that you know of?"

"Well, that would probably be adamantite. Only the rich adventurers can afford items crafted with that as a base."

"_Hmm, well although I obviously have no knowledge of adamantite from our world, I have held an ingot of it here, courtesy of those bandits Urman lead. That being said, it is still a metal and I find it very hard to believe that the harder gems can be outdone by a natural metal, not even an alloy."_

"Well, your right in that it's hard, but no, it is definitely not the hardest. With regards to actual data, it is assumed that the hardest natural material is in fact diamond. It's rather simple. What you can do to test the hardness of a material is simply scratch it with that of another. It is very difficult to scratch diamond, for example, with iron. You really can't unless you built up great speed. On the other hand however, you can essentially always scratch iron with diamonds as a diamond is far harder. Gems are considerably harder than metals overall because the way they are made but it would take to long to explain what I mean so just take in that information for now."

Upon taking notice of Urman's nod, Kolstein continued. "Now, why that's relevant for your armor is that I have mixed the pros and cons of each material to create a kind of super ingot, called an alloy. That alloy, the combination of the two elements, is simply called corundum. The **gem** corundum is hard, similar to diamond really, but easily broken. If bent even a little, it shatters. On the other hand, steel is not nearly as hard per say, but it has a far better capability to bend. That is called tensile strength. Also, steel is slightly lighter and has a higher melting point."

"This all comes together to form the new metal. Corundum has the inherent tensile strength, melting point and weight of steel with the hardness of a gem similar to diamond. That is why your armor is far stronger than many might believe."

Urman understood fully now and, again, his face was filled with glee. His armor that was gifted to him was truly a piece of masterful crafting. It wasn't the strongest out there but it could damn well stop quite a lot.

"Now then, I have a lot of equipment and quite frankly, I don't have the energy to go into each one into great detail. So I'll skim over most of it."

Seeing Urman was back to full attention as they continued their walk back from their current mission, Kolstein went on his tangent.

"Now to understand my equipment, you need to know 3 things as a sort of foundation to all of these belongings. Those 3 things are that, 1, they have either been created by me using materials you have never heard of nor would have if not for me explaining it, 2, they were given and/or procured through means of looting after a strenuous fight by extremely powerful beings or even beings considered on par with deities and finally, 3, most if not all of my best equipment is enchanted and reinforced in some way. Do not ask how. Just know that I have done my utmost to increase each items effectiveness. Some not as much as others due to the fact that some things were created before I mastered a certain field."

Upon receiving a nod, Kolstein began his list.

"My armor right now is Dragon Scale Armor, the light armored variant of the dragon armor line. It is made of dragon scales, surprising, I know. The scales themselves however and exceedingly strong. You see, I do not know how they measure up to each other, but the dragons I fought to procure this armor is from a very far away place and to my understanding, at the very least, dragon scales and hide from where I come from are far stronger." "_That has to be the case, I mean adamantite is strong but my ebony was barely scratched if even at all when I tested it before using the ingot. Considering this world's 'strongest material,' of which one would assume would be able to take on dragons to an extent considering humans have killed dragons before no doubt, that means that dragon scales and bones here must be at MOST only slightly stronger than adamantite. That still puts it below ebony. I still have both daedric and dragon bone/scale weapons and armor after that!"_

"Anyhow, the armor is very light. Even though scales, relatively thick ones mind you, cover most of my body, the scales themselves are rather low in weight. In actuality, it's lighter than most chainmail. That's saying a lot taking into consideration its ability to shield me."

"Now, each set of armor has also been reinforced as I mentioned earlier. The process of reinforcement is actually more of a compression. Allow me to elaborate…" "_I'm just pulling shit out of my ass at this point. I have no idea what the smithing really did in Skyrim. Or rather, what (flawless) or whatever quality really meant. Although, when upgrading the armor, it didn't increase in weight or size so I'll have to make something up…" _

"You see, when I smith an item, it has a certain weight, size, hardness, durability, etc, all of which come together nicely to depict its ability for protection. An 'armor value' of sorts. The Dragon Scale Armor is strong but can be improved by adding more dragon scales to the set. I take the completed gauntlets, helmet or any other piece and compress more of the same material onto the set and in doing so, increases 2 of the aforementioned variables and leaves the others completely untouched. The 2 that it changes is hardness and durability. Increases in both of these fields further the armors 'armor value' as I mentioned before."

"But I digress, I do not wish to go too far into it, but I will have you know that there are terms to show roughly the sets armor value or rather how high its armor value is compared to its original. The different qualities are as follows; armor can be normal, so original quality. Then comes (Fine), (Superior), (Exquisite), (Flawless), (Epic) and finally, (Legendary). Like mentioned, this just means its quality compared to its original. For example, a normal leather chestplate may be standard, however, a superior leather chestplate will still be the same size and weigh as much as it used to, just now it may have the durability and hardness of a steel chestpiece."

Urman's face lit up slightly in understanding. He begins to question "So then, if that's the case, why doesn't everyone use this sort of technique? It would make armor much better…"

"Yes you would be right were it not for the fact that it is a seemingly lost technique. Very few if any still assemble and process configurations in this way. In fact, I may even be the last one."

Once again, Urman's face betrayed his shock. Both at the lost art of amazing smithing and the fact that his master may in fact be the last one.

"That being said, it is not some miracle work. A steel chestpiece can only get so strong and with better material armor, the more costly it is to upgrade in the first place."

"I see. In that case master, what is the value of our gear?" asked Urman in genuine curiosity. They had both stopped now and were sitting on a log right in front of a stream, slightly off to the right of the road.

"Ok, first, you whole set of armor is in the exquisite category. I was only capable of going that far before, however I have long since mastered smithing so you can only come to guess at how long ago it was since I used that armor." Urman smiled when he heard that.

"As for my set, all 4 main pieces of helmet, chest piece, gauntlets and boots are all of the legendary variety. It is so strong that I wouldn't be surprised if the country tried to confiscate it and place it in their own personal armory." At this, Urman paled. "If that's so, then what would happen if they wear it? Wouldn't they be unstoppable?"

"Good question, and the answer to that is no. You see, my tools and equipment operate under different rules if you want to call them that. You, for example, are not taking the best advantage of your armor." Urman looked at Kolstein with poorly hidden confusion. Kolstein sighed before starting again. "I don't really know how else to put this other than the fortifications don't really apply unless you've mastered that particular art. If I were to give you a (Legendary) axe, you would be unable to make any use above the quality of (Superior). In fact, I believe your armor is currently acting only as if it was under the (Fine) category. Again, don't ask. Too long to explain." "_And I have no real idea why, just my armor seems to work that way." _

That seemed to satisfy Urman for now so Kolstein continued. "Ok then. So all of my armor is (legendary) and I, of course, have the capabilities to wield it fully. As for enchants, as I mentioned my having earlier, I have the following. Keep in mind, my limit" "_or at least my limit in the game" _"is 2 enchants per set. That is mirrored for my weapons as well."

"Although it isn't terribly needed, my boots have (Muffle) which silences my movement as well as all sounds coming from my armor, of which I can also turn of the ability as well without repercussion, and (Shock Resistance). The (Shock Resistance) offers me upwards of 75% resistance to any and all lightning based magic. My gauntlets have the enchants of (Fortify One Handed) and (Increased Magicka) which improved my agility with my one handed swords or other weapons and boosts the amount of magic I have by 100… er, I mean by 10% respectively. My helmet offers (Fortify Archery) and (Fortify Spells). (Fortify Archery) really just increases one's eyesight further for improved bow use although it is a passive skill and is used regardless of holding a bow or not while (Fortify Spells) decreases the cost of all spells I cast by 25%. That includes restoration spells, destruction, the works."

"My chest piece gives me (Regenerate Magicka) and (Regenerate Health) which increases my magic and health regeneration by 100% each. Now then, onto rings." "_At this point, I already understand that I can have as many rings on as I want although I never really had that many rings on my at once so I only really had 2 rings in my inventory to better me for combat and a ring for speech and other useless skills." _"I have 3 rings. 1 of them has (Lock Picking) and (Pickpocketing)" at this, Urman gave a strange look. "I know I know, weird enchants, I know. I had a strange past with a certain _thieves guild_." Kolstein essentially muttered the last part to himself.

"I digress, the other ring had (Resist Fire) and (Resist Frost) which, much like the (Resist Shock) I had on my boots, resist both fire and frost based attacks by 75%. Finally, my last ring has on it (Fortify Spells), which does the same as the helmet does, and (Fortify Speech) which only actually increases my ability to barter but if I'm to be frank, I don't really know by how much."

Urman was busy letting all the information sink in. It was quite a lot and he didn't want to forget any of it. It was imperative he understood his master's strengths and weaknesses so he could cover for them if need be. That was his plan however before he was brought back to the real world by his master's voice once more.

"Now onto my weapons." Urman had forgotten about those. "Simply put, on my right shoulder, you'll see my Ebony Straight Sword." Kolstein pulled out the blade. The same straight, black, gleaming sword which glistened slightly in the sun coming through the trees. Urman was in awe. "The blade is made of ebony which is actually stronger than adamantite." Urman's eyes opened up even wider. "It is of (Legendary) quality and possesses the (Shock) enchant which causes great depletion in vitality while also draining magic energy within said person, causing a mage to run low on magic quite quickly. Now, as for my other sword."

Kolstein pulled on the hilt of the strange, black/red sword with a nice tug while also placing the Ebony Sword in front of him, the blade protected by the soft caressed of the bright green grass. The blade, of which Urman had never seen considering he never saw the two-handed variant of the blade when Kolstein fought against Ainz, looked quite demonic. Before he could overcome his shock at the awe-inspiring weapons and armor in front of him, Kolstein confirmed his suspicions. "This is my Daedric Sword. It is essentially in the top 3 for strongest weapons on my person in terms of actual damage output if you understand. It was made from an unnamed alloy, a combination of ebony and the heart of a daedra. A demon." Urman gulped loudly although he really did try to suppress it. The idea of a real demon's heart being ripped out and mixed in with metal to forge a blade was incredible. Dangerous. Should be stupid. Impossible. Although it was done. And by his master no less.

"The sword is actually just a bit sharper than the Ebony Blade, but it is far more durable. It too is of the (Legendary) quality and has 2 enchants compared the the 1 on the ebony counterpart. It possesses (Soul Trap) which essentially, on my will of course so it does not happen every time, just when I want it to, traps the soul of the victim in a gem which can be used for enchanting later or can be used to recharge the enchants on my weapons that I already possess. The sword also has (Absorption) which drains the vitality of another person and brings it into me. By that I mean that if injured, should I slash into another opponent, they would take the damage from the blade of course, but also slightly lose a combination of blood, strength, etc, that would be transfered to me, to heal my wounds."

"You could say that the enchants befit the sword, master." spoke Urman for the first time in quite a while. Kolstein let out a mild chuckle. "Well, you aren't wrong Urman. Regardless, this has taken far too long so we should get a move on." Kolstein stood up from the log. "We killed the damned goblins like the quest asked us to and now we can finally get back. Once we do, we can collect our money and move along as normal. A few more quests and we can rank up."

"Yes master."

"Oh yea, and Urman?"

"Master?"

"Soon, you will be getting some new gear. But only when I've deemed you ready. Your axe is fine for now and before I even think about getting new armor, if even at all, you need to master the skill up until you can maximize your current armor. Understood?"

Urman was now standing, back straight and arms at his side. Axe on his back and helmet back on. Kolstein listened to the slightly muffled speech coming from Urman's closed-off face.

"Yes master!"

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**Oh boy was that long for me now I know it isn't the most fun thing in the world, especially for people who have played Skyrim at length, to just read about the enchants and such but it has its purpose.**

**The enchants and smithing themselves are negligible but even to seasoned Skyrim vets, knowing the armor and weapon capabilities are important but more than that, it is important to understand how these systems work.**

**I explained a bit of that here, mostly smithing though. **

**Hopefully next chapter will fill most of your needs with regards to the story and the goings on of the world. Please leave a review of whether you thought this chapter was completely useless that you benefited from it, even if by a small margin.**

**Bye for now**


	11. Trial and Skill

**Alright I've said this before but I just want this to come across as best as possible. My exams are coming up soon and I won't be able to update as much. Simple as that.**

**Last chapter was just a lot of description so in this one, there'll be a 'bigger' addition to the actual story.**

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Trial and Skill**

"_Wait what? That can't be possible?! It was able to bypass a super-tier item? That means…"_

"Albedo! Come here! We are leaving!"

The white-dressed succubus quickly and happily jumped into the arms of the undead heteromorph. Teleporting away, both found themselves in an entirely different field a few miles away. Albedo blushed from the contact with her beloved before it morphed into one of confusion and anxiety after he lord unhands her and flips out.

"Damnit! Damnit! Damnit Damnit Damnit! AAAHHHHHHHH!" screamed Ainz as he continuously pounded the earth with his shaking stomps. The same outside force as always calmed him down.

"What is wrong my lord? Please tell me? Did it not work?" came the near angelic voice of the floor guardian overseer.

"You are right Albedo. I was not able to cure Shalltear's status effects with **shooting star**. That leaves the only possibility for Shalltear's attacker to have used a…"

"World level item..."

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

"Congratulations you two! Your mission success rate is adequately high and you have gone through with more than a few noteworthy achievements. As my right as guild master for the royal capital's adventurers guild, you are now gold-plated adventurers!" exclaimed an easy-on-the-eyes woman who was standing in front of 2 men, one in plate armor and the other wearing some sort of scale.

"Thank you for your kindness miss. We shall continue on as adventurers for this city, of course. May we meet again with greater feats." said Kolstein, the man in scale all the while taking the gold plate that was just handed to him and placing it around his neck. The other man in plate, Urman, simply hung his plate on his belt, falling over his right thigh.

It had been roughly 3 weeks since their encounter with Ainz and Co and progress has been made. They were now an official team, just the two of them. Considering they are only gold plated adventurers, they are well known around the guild hall as impressive upstarts by many. Even civilians are starting to recognize the two whilst they meander through the capital.

Various quests for ogre subjugations, large goblin nests clearing, hidden necromancer hunting, etc, are all under their name. The name their team was given by the guild was quite simple. Very few people had seen any of the two fight, if any at all, but they still give off conflicting senses of tension yet tranquility. This is just the air they have. At first it confused people, even frightened off a few. However, the guild's adventurers, both above and below, have long since gotten used to it. Even enjoying it considering that, unless one of them are angered, namely Kolstein, the feeling one gets around them is quite relaxing. Thus, their name. Serene Tempest. A calm, raging storm. Contradictory, yes. That's the point.

Although, not everyone likes them. Some angry iron plates complained about favoritism and how they climbed the ranks far faster than anyone. The only thing needed to be said was that there was plenty enough evidence to suggest they did all that they claimed. Eventually, the iron plates were 'taught a lesson' by some silvers. They said that they were being too loud in the guild hall.

That they were.

Since they had their first encounter with the adamantites, Blue Rose, they had actually not seen each other. Evileye was looking out for the pair. She wanted to know Kolstein more than just as a stranger. Her feelings were conflicting. There was no real romance, just some emotional attachment of some kind. She had yet to see someone move the way he did, hold themselves the way Kolstein had, the list goes on. It simply enamoured her.

With no luck, she could only keep an eye out while doing her own mission. The rest of Blue Rose that wasn't there for the little 'conflict' at the guild hall had of course heard of it. Serene Tempest's exploits also reached their ears so their leader, Lakyus, was interested in meeting them. Perhaps they could work together in the future? That's another story.

Kolstein and Urman were walking around town. They had just left the guild building after receiving their new ranks and were now just walking about. Urman was told earlier by Kolstein that he had plans for the both of them that would take a few days of their time.

"Urman, in here." came the voice of said master as Urman followed him into a metal workshop. While inside the store with the widest variety of metal in the capital, Kolstein picked out a unique ingot. It was light green in color and although it didn't shine too much from what little light was in the room, it was still unmistakably metal. It costed a small fortune. 1 platinum coin and 4 gold. Quite a lot, in fact, almost half of the money Kolstein and Urman had made up until this point.

Not that they cared, they lived out in the land primarily. They hunted themselves, ate by their own campfires, etc. They only returned by night to sleep at the inn considering that a comfortable bed was superior to the cold forest floor.

Kolstein grabbed the ingot and tossed it to Urman who caught it with a start, not at the surprise through but more so the weight. It was very light to say the least. Urman turned to Kolstein as to ask what it was exactly but Kolstein was already leaving so he just followed, keeping his mouth shut.

As they walked through the city, waving hello to 3 or 4 friendly faces they had worked with in the past month on the way, the 2 made it to the front gates and left. The guards, of course, knew who they were, almost personally. They left the city almost everyday so it isn't too surprising that they got out without any qualms.

Walking through the forest path, the morning sun besting the leaves attempting the shield the world from it beamed on the flattened dirt. After trotting for about 15 minutes, they veered off to the right, off trail, and continued another 400 meters into the already thickening woods. The trek now coming to an end, a small clearing with a diameter of 20 meters cut cleanly out of the trees met them with open arms. A small stream that came through the forest of 15 meter tall wood that cut the flat, grassy clearing at one side, almost like dividing a fourth of the opening and leaving it to itself.

Right in the middle sat a wood cabin. Sturdy logs formed its walls as the cabin stood 6 meters in height at its tallest, considering the angled roof, and 5 meters and its shortest. 1 side had a window with a shutter over it, keeping it safe from the outside world. On the adjacent side, facing the stream, was a door just big enough to fit Kolstein, who, mind you, was 3 inches taller than Urman who stood at 5'11.

On the wall opposite the door was a chimney of stone that stuck up 7 meters from the cabin's base. Entering the cozy home shows what it really was. Just like the outside, everything inside was new, almost unused. That's because it was almost unused. Kolstein and Urman worked for about half a week to make it. Their speed allowed them to make it quickly although they were in no rush so half a week was fine by them.

The interior was simple. The window now open and door letting in light, one could see the round pit made from rock with straw bags filled with charcoal sitting on the right side of the room. There was some coal still inside the shallow pit which covered up the bottom, riddled with holes used to supply air derived from the bellows sitting off to the left. Side air-producer was hooked up to a rope and pulley system as to allow the user to pull on it while still standing near the anvil located right at the front of the pit.

"_It took a little while, but now that we've finished the beginnings to our little workshop, we can start working on our own tools and what not." _As Kolstein thought this, he couldn't help but smirk at seeing the workbench along the wall with the window, tools lining the wood next to it, and a grindstone in the other corner.

"_This is so Skyrim esk its insane. Well, I guess that's the point."_

"Urman, today we are going to further your potential." This piqued Urman's interest. "I have of course noticed you strength increasing in time, however I feel that as we continue up ranks, you may need better equipment. On our last mission, you could take on an ogre on your own. That's good however I saw that you were overwhelmed at 2 or more at the same time. Your weapon to dull, armor too lacking. Let's fix that so that your growth is left unstinted."

"Yes master! Although, what would you like to do specifically?"

"Well, we will start with this." Kolstein held onto the metal he had just purchased. "This is mithril, one of the best metals money can buy, which was why it was so expensive. It is exceedingly light so it should go unnoticed by you, especially how I've intended to use it. I will craft you a better weapon soon, or even give you one from my personal armory but for now, new armor will do you good."

"Yes, thank you master."

As the coals were poured into the pit, the fires lit thanks to Kolstein's flame spell, Urman took to gathering water for quenching. As Kolstein heated up the pit even further with his spell, all the while adding oxygen with the bellows, it only took 5 minutes to get up to forging temperatures. Mithril has a slightly higher melting temperature than steel, sitting at around 2000 degrees celsius. As he fed the ingot in the forge, the process began.

After leaving the water inside, Urman sat in the grass, waiting for Kolstein to finish before he decided it would be better to get working on some food and collecting things for a fire. Fishing from the small stream might work too. Maybe afterwards, he might train a bit on some moves he's picked up on...

Back inside, Kolstein was getting ready his first hammering. The mithril came out bright yellow, a glowing bar looking as if it was cut from the sun's surface itself. He Kolstein, with masterful speed and grace, began pounding the metal. Each hit work hardening the bar as it slowly began to take shape. As it cooled down, it went back into the flame.

Back and forth, back and forth. The bar was heated, cooled and then reheated. Every so often, Kolstein would pour some water onto the anvil with a ladle before placing the ingot down and smacking it on top of the water, the steam and small blast removing any oxidizing scale in the process.

The metal flattened with time and eventually, it became something akin to a thin sheet of mithril. Kolstein moved the sheet to a sort of cutter that was placed on the table. A simple blade fashioned by an unused orichalcum dagger he had in his inventory worked wonders as he fed the sheet through the upturned blade. As he did, the sheet had a small strip half a centimeter in length cut away along the whole length. This process was repeated over and over until the sheet was no more; now just a bundle of mithril strands.

The strands were heated and cut while yellow into sizable lengths. Each small length of mithril neatly formed a ring when wrapped around a rod he had lying around as a form. After 3 hours of arduous work, all strands were made into a great pile of flattened, mithril links. With one final heating through the forge, the links were quenched in hot oil, of which Kolstein just instinctively knew what temperature to bring it up to, the perks of being a level 100 smith, after which bringing said rings to be tempered in the residual heat of the now coal-less forge. Kolstein eyeballed this too and was constantly working the metal to make sure the heat coated every link near perfectly.

Yea, level 100 smith.

After the hour long tempering, Kolstein got to work with the easiest part, but one not lacking in length.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Urman had been working for a while now. It had been 9 hours since Kolstein went in there and Urman was curious as to what he was so focused with. He had already eaten and had prepared some fish he procured as well as wild vegetables that were in his pack from a previous expedition, all waiting for his master. In the meantime, Urman did was he could to improve himself.

"**Ability Boost!**" Urman's body shimmered green for but a hair.

"**Martial Arts: Cutting Edge!**" Again, Urman, or rather, his axe glowed a bright green for a fraction of a second before gathering at the edge of the bladed section.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH" screamed Urman in a battle cry as he charged his target; a set of trees. His axe came in a horizontal strike, the weight of the relatively large man and heavy axe mixed with martial arts cutting 4 trees in half with subsequent ease.

As the logs fell to the dirt below, Urman let out a sigh and started to lightly pant. "_5 hours of strength training and martial arts practice will really kill a person…" _Releasing another breath, Urman was about to continue before the door to the cabin calmly opened, disturbing but a blade of grass in its grace.

Out from the door came Kolstein in a blacksmith's apron, his armor and other clothing back in his inventory for now. "Urman, here. This is yours." He held out his hands, revealing a neatly folded set of newly forged chainmail…

"_Wait, this isn't chainmail…" _The links were flat and had no opening. Put simply, there was no evidence of the links being fit together. Otherwise, the set was immaculate. It shimmed a light green in the late afternoon sun, almost glowing with its own radiance. Taking it in his hands, Urman noticed just how light it was, even more so than a thin, sleeveless leather vest.

"Master, this chainmail, it's quite different. What is it really?"

"My, you have quite the eye there. You are correct, it technically isn't chainmail. It is called riveted mail." This brought a confused look to Urman's eyes.

"Riveted mail is basically chainmail, just it is riveted shut, no openings whatsoever. This means that it loses the weakness that plagued it before, no longer any metaphorical and literal 'holes' in it. This also means that it can be made with about half of the material, considering it doesn't require to be as thick as it doesn't use its own tensile strength to hold the links shut."

"What this means for you is the following: A normal set of riveted mail made from steel is actually half the weight of its chainmail counterpart while also being upwards of 10 times stronger." At this, Urman's eyes lit up in shock.

He seems to be doing that a lot these days.

"That is strong, but remember that this is made from mithril. Put that on under your armor and you will be able to withstand quite the blow, even if it comes through your plate."

Urman quickly complied and arduously took off his chestplate, adorned the mail, and wore the armor once more in just under 2 minutes. "Master, it's so light! I cannot even feel it underneath! You truly are incredibly talented. To not only know of such a construct but to also be able to create it… Your abilities know no bounds."

"Thank you Urman, but now I find myself quite tired. Allow us to eat a bit and then head back to town. We will rest before coming back here again to train."

"Yes master!"

And so, the 2 went back to the tavern after eating the fish and vegetables that Urman had so kindly prepared. After a nights long rest, they approached the little workshop area again for another days work.

"Listen well Urman. Today, we will both be training. I will help you a bit but first." As he finished his sentence, Kolstein grabbed Urman's axe and placed several steel weights on the handle and slid them down towards the axe head, securing them there with some cloth. "The added steel here will increase the axe's weight by 30%. This is a technique I have seen many people use before. By adding more weight to the axe, you get better accustomed to higher weights. This means, 1, you will strike harder without the weights on, and 2, you will get used to bigger axes should you need to in the future." Urman accepted this with a nod. He had his hole set of armor on, minus the helmet.

"I want you to practice swinging that. Use the 'shadow opponent' I had you fighting earlier to imagine any potential counters. Swing your axe accurately and as fast as you can. The more you get used to mid-strike shifts, the better you will be able to control your axe in combat and the greater your chances at catching your foes off guard. Also, keep using your martial arts. I have a personal goal for you; within a months time frame, I want you to be able to use the **Greater Ability Boost **as to increase your capabilities. I will be on the prowl for some other martial arts that can be useful for you. Also, just so you are aware, I will be working some on my conjuration… just so you don't get too scared at seeing some skeletons…" Kolstein said the last sentence with a grin and in a teasing voice, causing Urman to show a smirk on his own before nodding and heading off to begin his training.

"_Alright then" _began Kolstein, now alone on the other side of the clearing. "_I want to try this conjuration although it is quite strange." _Kolstein brought out a… goblin corpse… one that has been lying preserved in the clearings edge for a while. It had been killed while attempting to attack Kolstein during the building process.

He laid the corpse out on the grass and stood 2 meters back from it. "_Alright, so raise zombie would get him to resurrect. However, he would still be weak… I could just give it armor and such but no… wait, I could try to mix 2 spells and then give it equipment. Hmm, I got just the thing and if this works, he'll be one hell of an opponent on the battlefield." _Kolstein began his strongest raise zombie spell in his left hand and in his right was the (Expert) level spell, Conjure Dragon Priest.

He placed his hands together and the two black orbs combined and began swirling in the same direction, merging with the other. Kolstein opened up his hands to reveal the ball of black, forcing it towards the goblin's small corpse. As it struck, a small vortex about 2 meters tall engulfed the small body, rendering it incapable of being seen; the black swirls accompanied by the sharp whistle of a quick wind dominated the clearing. In the process, Kolstein brought out 3 items. One was a brown, leather hood with a light gray mask covered in an ethereal glow. The mask had intricate patterns surrounding the cheeks, by the mouth and forehead. It had 2 eyes with horizontal slits for openings, just enough to be able to be seen through.

It was the Morokei Mask, one which has relative armor to it but its main purpose lies with its ability to regenerate the user's magicka 100% faster than normal. Considering all beings had at least some level of magicka, even if it was slightly different in this world, the wearer would still get similar effects. The other item was a Staff of Chain Lightning. It had a straight, golden handle that began to curve like an 'S' towards the last half meter, finishing with the head of something akin to a Chinese dragon towards the top, its mouth slightly parted as it faced the heavens. As its name describes, it is capable of launching the (Adept) level spell Chain Lightning as many times as the user wishes, so long as there is enough charge. Since coming to the new world, Kolstein has noticed that these kinds of things lose charge very slowly, especially since he crafted the staff himself, thanks to a mod, with the best (Grand) soul gem he had. It would last a while and could be easily recharged by Kolstein himself every few months.

The final item was also quite special. It was Kolstein's own set of Arch Mage Robes. The gentle fur that wrapped his shoulders melded well with the light brown and darker colors of the cloth bases robe, a leather belt near the waist to assist in holding it in place. The robe set gave 3 things itself; 1, 100% magicka regen. 2, an increase of 50 magicka which, by this world's standard, is actually quite powerful, maybe even close to a 3rd or 4th tier mage, and finally, 3, a 15% spell cost reduction for any and all spells. This would be useful considering Kolstein has every intention to teach some spells to the… thing… if he gets this to work.

As the items were thrown in, the vortex began to calm down and revealed a now floating being. The goblin could no longer be seen on the ground, rather it was floating. In fact, one couldn't even tell it was a goblin anymore. The goblin just seemed to be the base for which the Dragon Priest to possess. It would seem that the only thing the base dictates is how strong the Priest is right out of the gate, which would mean in this case that it isn't at its best right now. However, due to its items and the fact that a Dragon Priest's soul has been implanted, the body will rapidly grow in strength to its current maximum within the next day or so.

Standing in front of Kolstein, the black swirling wind now long gone, stood… nay, hovered the new being. It hovered half a meter off of the ground and, in and of itself, it stood at 5'10, just an inch below Urman. Feet and calves were almost just skin and bones, a pale limb just able to be seen from the cloth hanging from its waist. The arch mage robes covered its upper body beautifully, extending wrapped linen over its arms and covering its hands. The face and head were fully concealed by the Morokei Mask and, as the mask was named such, the being would now be called Morokei. It held the Staff of Chain Lightning firm it its right hand, slightly angled towards the right and directed the head of the staff upwards.

Morokei, the first ever Dragon Priest of this world was now completely under Kolstein's control and would be one of the stronger beings the world's seen, technically speaking. "_Damn, this guy looks cool. The mask really suits him. Considering what I've seen and heard, this guy would be equivalent to a tier 5 or tier 6 mage. And that's just with the staff. Due to the nature of the masks, I think I will only be able to get him to learn a few destruction spells, but I may be able to get him to grasp some restoration. Regardless, lets confirm his sentience…"_

"Welcome back to the world of the living, if you want to call it that, Morokei."

The Priest remained silent for but a few seconds before responding in a raspy-with-age kind of voice, deep and with plenty of bass. "Yes of course lord. I am at your command."

"_Excellent. A new summons. And this one lasts forever really, that is unless he gets killed. This really just means that not only do I have another subordinate, but considering he can talk, and the rough history of the masks and the nature of my spell, he should be quite intelligent yet remain loyal as well. I have all of the masks on me, in which case, I could maybe make the whole group of Dragon Priests something akin to generals or captains when I finally need something like that."_

"_This is all getting oh so interesting…"_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Alright, the story didn't progress as much as I wanted. To be frank, my story, as of right, is kind of reflecting what I want to see in the stories I read. **

**You know, showing the characters building up, tinkering with new spells, meeting new people and then subsequently helping them out with skills as well.**

**I also really like the idea of all the Dragon Priests under the control of Kolstein and leading like a small army each in some sort of a battle. It probably won't happen, but imagine a battle where Demiurge and Cocytus or whomever really are just out in some fields preparing for a fight when they get surrounded by all 8 dragon priests?**

**That would really be something cool. Wonder how they'd react?**

**Anyhow, again, sorry for taking so long with this one. You've probably heard it before in a whole plethora of different fics but I really will try to release earlier. Just gotta prioritize my school work for now, you know?**

**Bye for now**


	12. Comrade-a-Plenty

**Nothing much to say other than I'm loving the reviews and suggestions. Also a heads up, if someone asks something or writes something wrong that I want to correct, it is beyond frustrating when they have PM turned off lol. Just putting that out there :)**

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Comrade-a-Plenty**

"Oh, sorry. I Didn't see you there." spoke Kolstein who had just bumped into an armored man. "No please, I wasn't paying much attention myself." came a gruff voice. The man was slightly shorter than Kolstein, standing at 6 foot even. He had steel-colored plate armor which covered his upper body, stopping at slightly past the shoulders. He had dark brown hair and equally dark eyes and beard that radiated his age, that being around 30 or so. He had a basic broadsword at his hip.

He also had some company. The other man was just barely taller standing at 6 foot 1. He had little to no armor on with the exception of some leather shin guards and thin bracers of the same material. He sported short, blue hair and brown eyes along with some perceptible stubble on his chin. He was unarmed yet still had the radiance of a strong warrior yet seemed to be lacking in confidence, signified by a tinge of anxiety hiding in his presence. He was in his mid to late 20's.

"Say, I've never seen you before." started the more confident and older of the two. "I pride myself in knowing most of the people in the adventurers guild. Are you new?" Kolstein and Urman were in fact new and understood that not everyone would know them and for now, that is exactly how they wanted it.

"Yes, in fact we are." answered Kolstein. He was in full gear with his Dragon Scale Armor and twin swords on his back. Urman was also kitted out. "We just became adventurers some weeks ago. As you can tell" he pointed to his evidence "We are both gold plated adventurers. Who are you exactly?"

"Oh, forgive me. My name is Gazef Stronoff, the royal head warrior of the Re-Estize Kingdom. The man behind me is Brain Unglaus, someone who rivaled my strength last we fought. Could you be so kind as to give me your names as well? I like to know new faces I may be working with…"

"Ahh, of course. My name is Kolstein Nash and this is Urman. We are the only 2 members of the gold plated adventurer team, Serene Tempest. I hope we can work well in the future." At this, they all shook hands, even the now named Brain. The two main speakers of either side went at it for a bit in asking each other various questions, such as 'what lead you to become and adventurer?' and 'what does being royal head warrior entail?'

After some 5 minutes or so, Urman's stomach growled, loud enough for even Brain to crack a smirk. "Come, Brain and I were about to come to my home for some food. You seem like respectable fellows, so why not join us? We can talk more about life. You do seem quite wise Sir Kolstein." "Please, no honorifics Mr. Stronoff. I have never been one for such formalities unless strictly necessary. And yes, I think I'll hold you to that dinner."

"In that case, no 'Mr' out of you either. Just Gazef. Now come, lets us move on. I'll lead us to my residence." The party was lead towards Gazef's small abode. Nothing fancy, just big enough to comfortably house 2, maybe 3 people although plenty of space for the small dinner.

Once inside, Kolstein and Urman removed their gear. Both placed their sets nearby on a table set aside by Gazef while he himself also kept on some casual clothes as a replacement to the plate armor. Gazef insisted on making the food himself but, at Kolstein's suggestion, Urman adamantly offered his assistance, of which Gazef finally agreed upon, leaving Kolstein and Brain alone in the other room.

"So, why the long face?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I don't mean to be tactless, but something seems to be bothering you Brain. Something bad happen… if you don't mind me asking…"

Brain kept silent and looked down for a second, only a flash of despair on his face before looking up again and looking straight into Kolstein's eyes.

"I am supposed to be strong…"

"Yes, I know. You almost tied with the kingdoms royal head warrior, of course your strong."

"I know. And I thought I was. Before I met her… it…" Kolstein looked on in slight confusion, only to be caught again by Brain's next words.

"I came across something. A monster, something of true power. I couldn't, I didn't, stand a snowball's chance in hell at besting her. I used my most powerful move and yet I didn't even scratch her fingernails. I was going faster than any human would ever even think possible, and yet…"

"So you lost and now you're bummed?" At the reply, Brain looked up with wide eyes. "I have fought a lot…. a LOT of enemies in my past and not always have I won. Sometimes I retreat, sometimes I use my friends for assistance, sometimes I am on my deathbed…"

Brain was listening but seemed to get irate. "No you fool! I am talking about TRUE POWER! We humans, we are nothing! I am considered the second strongest person in the kingdom technically speaking, and yet I failed to lay a finger on my opponent and watched my men get decimated! You cannot even fathom her power!" Brain was clearly distressed, not really thinking clearly. Kolstein knew this much which was why he continued calmly.

"Hmm, well, you are right. I cannot TRULY understand her power unless I meet her. That being said, you are most definitely wrong about more than a few things." Brain was still visibly upset about the current goings on but perked up at the man in front of him's last line.

"Before I start, can you tell me about this… thing? Characteristics, name, abilities, the works…"

"Oh, uhh, yea sure. Her name was Shalltear Bloodfallen and…"

"Stop."

The abrupt interruption confused Brain but he didn't have to wait too long for Kolstein to continue.

"I know of this girl." Brain's eyes widened in shock. "I met her a while ago. We duked it out along with some other people. Before I continue, you must swear secrecy. I assure you, I have not done anything negative towards the kingdom. This is just so that this is kept on the downlow." Kolstein leans in a bit, still hearing the vibration echoing from Urman and Gazef speaking to each other in the other room. "Do not even tell Gazef. I do not want any normal people to take after this Shalltear and openly attack, leading to their own deaths." Brain didn't need to think about it much as he agreed wholeheartedly. At his nod, Kolstein continued.

"Simply put, she is strong… very strong. However, you are wrong in that she is unreachable. In fact, I believe that you would even be able to wound her to some extent one day. Power in and of itself is relative; different aspects create what we come to understand as power and strength is reflected through action. Your strength is not put into question rather its your ability to be able to move past your current limitations beset upon you as a human being."

"What are you saying? That I'll be weak because I am a human? That's what I've been getting at as well…"

"No, not necessarily. Let me put it to you this way. Regardless of who you are, the biggest definition to strength is inherent experience. The strongest people are weak without it and the weakest are strong through it. You are not that old. Even as a warrior, most of your life has been that of a person who has been eating, drinking, sleeping away your days until your untimely demise. That is a necessity of course, these periods of relaxation, but at the rate of which those periods exist, you would need someone of pre-existing strength and experience to guide you down the right path."

"Abilities, physique, items, stratagem, preparations, even comradery is what dictates a being power. So tell me this, how many of those have you mastered? You have more than likely worked hard, but, can you truly say that you have mastered all of your abilities or that you have learned the maximum sum of abilities possible? Can you say for certain that there are no longer any items that you can bare, ones that are insurmountable and cannot be mirrored? Can you honestly say with absolute certainty that your comrades, whomever they may be, have reached their each respective peak?"

"Well, there is a simple answer after all. You have not mastered all of these, nor are you close. This Shalltear has not reached that epitome of strength either. What you need is not too necessarily accept what I am saying, but understand it. If you do not accept it, well, good luck changing it although I would recommend rolling with it. As a human, and I might be biased, I can say with clarity that I have not ever seen a race achieve so much in so little time. Never have I thought that humanity would fall before some nefarious deity."

Brain's eyes were even wider than before, mouth slightly agape as he was absorbing this information from the seemingly-younger man before him. Never had he heard someone praise the race quite like this, nor can he comprehend how Kolstein speaks these words even after meeting with the vampire. He listens in even more closely when it is apparent that Kolstein is about to say his final words of this tangent.

"It is because we have the gall to say to our enemies that there is a price we will not pay, there is a point of which they shall not advance. A great man from long ago once said that 'a war isn't necessarily won by the materialistic measure but rather by the morals and will of our people.' I believe that it is this mindset that allows us to move forward, looking to the horizon with a glint of our adventurous side lighting its path through our body, radiating a kind of excitement for what's to come. As a true adventurer myself, I like to believe that we do not fight because it is easy but because it is difficult."

"Brain." At the mention of his name, Brain was listening wholeheartedly at his next words. "It is our right, our need, to help the people. You and I both have discovered this existence of an above average being. I say, what's the point of just sulking about it and not just grow in strength so that one day we can surpass this hurdle?"

"Are you saying that you can help me? Help me reach the height of this monster? And you are only a gold plate, no offense. How can I expect you to do something like train me?" It was a reasonable question, but one that made Kolstein laugh all the same. It was a gentle laugh, one that found genuine humor in Brain's sayings, a laugh that did not irk Brain in the slightest.

"Aye, you would be right in that line of thinking. However, I am not what I seem to be, although I do not typically like to boast. We climbed the ranks to gold plate in just under a month. The only people capable of doing that are ones who have relative power before becoming adventurers. Besides, if you feel no difference in even just a week or 2, you have every right to leave the group."

"Wait, so your saying that…" "I'm saying that I, Kolstein Nash, want you, Brain Unglaus, to join the gold plated adventurer team Serene Tempest. With us, you will make money, gain notoriety, increase in strength, achieve increases in equipment quality and finally, find new comrades that will guard your back no matter the situation. So, Mr. Unglaus. Do you accept?"

Brain was equally shocked compared to before, however, he understood Kolstein character and his meaning as a warrior the second he opened his mouth. Kolstein was more than just your average adventurer. Even if Brain couldn't directly attest to Kolstein's strength as of yet, what he says makes sense, and his attitude is unlike anything he's ever seen. This opportunity could more than likely produce increases in strength for Brain, accompanied by a rekindling of his past warrior's spirit. Also, he would make some much needed friends.

For Brain, the answer was indeed a simple one, as Kolstein had said.

"Of course I will kid. Consider me part of the team. I'll enjoy working with you from now on."

As he goes for a handshake, Kolstein reaches to accept but stays his hand for but a second to retort a "That's captain to you from now on. Creator of the team and your new instructor. I believe I deserve that much…" Brain groaned ever so slightly, but not out of annoyance as one would expect but rather one of feigned hostility, only to be quickly betrayed by a slight upward curve to his lips.

"Deal"

Their hands met in a firm shake of 2 men who had sealed a big chunk of their lives together as comrades.

"Sorry for the wait you 2. Urman and I just finished up with the… hey, what happened? What are you so happy about Brain?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Big oof, this one took a little while longer than usual. This will happen periodically because, 1, I have mentioned before of my exams, and 2, some points in the story are essential just boring for me to write really. This is kind of one of those.**

**Ultimately, this means that the group has of course been expanded. How strong will Brain be, well, he'll never really be on the level to beat Shalltear that's for sure. I mean, come on, he just a human so no surprises there. However, I really like him as a character, personality, fighting style, abilities, even appearance wise. **

**I hope that no one is really too against this expansion of the party as well as protagonist list. Also, I hope that I'm not the only one whos a small fan of Brain.**

**Bye for now**


	13. Fateful Future

**Oh jeez…**

**I want to start off with an apology really. I had a kind of writer's block going for a while mixed with my school exams. Then summer came up, I graduated, parties, trips, getting my license, etc. All of that combined to essentially halt my progress although I won't say it isn't my fault as laziness also played a factor.**

**That being said, I have NOT given up on this fic. Should I start thinking of doing so, I will tell you guys. There won't be a schedule and I won't write as much as I did in the beginning but I'll do my utmost to work on this to a greater extent. However, understand that I've been conscripted into the army and I enter within a few weeks so I'll only be able to write any on the weekends in which I'll more than likely be shot to hell from the training so there might be another wait until the next chapter. **

**Anyway, once again, I apologize to those that were looking forward to the next chapters, if anyone really is, and I can only say sorry and promise to try to write more frequently in the future.**

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Fateful Future**

"All hail Ainz Ooal Gown… The supreme one is truly the strongest of Nazarick… Forgive me… Shorty…"

What follows next is a massive blast of white which covered a large expanse, encompassing the field and nearby forest.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Kolstein pauses after his swing, finishing the final hobgoblin of the nest, while gazing to the west, as if his focus is caught elsewhere.

"What's wrong master?" asked the nearby Urman.

"_Huh, that was odd. A massive energy. Quite far away yet I still felt it… strange." _Turning back to his faithful servant and comrade, Kolstein replies "It was nothing. Just thought I picked something up in the wind."

As he finishes his sentence, a small leather pouch is thrown towards Kolstein, of whom catches it with ease. Brain Unglaus himself appears from the brush. "I didn't think you were able to smell anything through that face-mask of yours. You sure you aren't half dog?"

"Very funny. Regardless, what's in the bag?"

"Just a little somethin from that mage I killed. Honestly, didn't think goblins could be this sophisticated."

"It just goes to show what time can do to something so meager. Humans weren't too dissimilar themselves you know." replied Kolstein.

"What do you mean by that, leader?" questioned Brain. Urman was just standing to the side watching the proceedings with interest, as he usually does with his lord's explanations.

"Well, Mr. Unglaus, where do you think we came from? The human race wasn't born with the knowledge to smith armor and weapons and to talk from day one now were they?"

Somehow enlightened by the rhetorical question, Brain smartly replied "huh, guess not. Never really thought about it much. Not really too interested either, to be frank. Now then, what do we do with this nest?"

Sparing a glance around, Kolstein, now back in his nightingale armor with only the ebony straight sword at his hip, thought back on his mission. It was rather simple, not usually meant for gold ranked adventurers, (Brain became gold from the getgo considering his somewhat high notoriety and a quick word from Serene Tempest's leader) yet, a crew of 12 silvers went off to investigate and subsequently destroy a nest of goblins after some sightings near a local road. None of the silvers came back and it was easy to see why.

Upon approaching, Serene Tempest easily stepped around the various traps thanks to Kolstein's senses mixed with the three's experience. It seems that 2 of the silvers were not so fortunate if the corpse in the hole with punji sticks and and man hanging by a noose high in a tree were any indication.

Upon closing in on the nest, Urman and Brain were amazed and sort of surprised while Kolstein merely raised a brow at the fact that the nest had walls, mud walls at that, but walls nonetheless. They surrounded the nest somewhat uneven in height, reaching anywhere around 2.5 to 3 meters at the highest. Inside the camp, through a shoddy wood gate was a number of make-shift teepees, rusted cages and a bonfire.

Seeing as there were a handful of goblins posted on ramshackle towers with bows, Urman and Brain would lie low in wait on their leader's/lord's command. This is how it normally was in the handful of quests done so far in the past two weeks since Brain's admittance to the guild and, more specifically, Serene Tempest.

Long story short, Kolstein sensed where they all were, gave info to both Brain and Urman so that they can gain more experience and practice while he himself would strategize a bit more to prepare himself for a larger role in leadership in case one such role would befit him in the future.

Brain and Urman did well, killing most of the camp of 48 goblins in around 5 minutes. 3 of the goblins were actually hobgoblins, which essentially amount to slightly larger and tougher goblins with a bit of a better performance with weaponry. There was also a mage goblin, one that stood at the back and fired small firebolt from a staff at Urman as he fought. Initially taken by surprise, Urman still managed to dodge the somewhat slow moving projectile and lob the hooded-goblin's head off.

After the scuffle, Urman and Brain were about to head back towards Kolstein when Brain notices a darkness behind some vines, nestled by some rock formations hugging the walls. Pushing aside the thicket of vines opened a shaft to a winding set of tunnels.

Other than the cave system, another point of interest were the women locked in the rusted-iron cages. They were all quite bruised, cut at several places and… naked. Half were unconscious and it wasn't hard to understand what had gone on at the camp with the women. Urman, although previously a ruffian, didn't enjoy rape like some of his men. Any passion for it burned instantly at becoming Kolstein's servant, in fact, Urman detests the idea now so it came as no surprise to Kolstein when Urman and Brain alike looked at him dead in the eyes, asking the obvious. Kolstein merely nodded at the unasked question and watched as the pair entered the cave to start their rampage on the remaining goblins.

Kolstein, whilst waiting, cleared the area of goblins with his flame spell, all the while catching the soulless eyes of the conscious women in the cages. Afterwards, wondering close to the rusted iron bars, Kolstein smashed through each lock easily, releasing the dozen or so women locked up. Those that were awake looked at Kolstein with new hope all the way up until Kolstein spoke. "Come on out. Your free. We're taking you home." Tears and endless sobbing filled the area as the women expressed themselves unfiltered by the endless strikes of the goblins.

After tending to each of the survivors with restoration magic, Kolstein knocked each of the out lightly so they get proper rest before they leave. After covering the women with a clean cloth from his inventory, Kolstein finally noticed his two teammates approaching from the cave entrance, blood stains and all.

It was a bloodbath from what the two had described, along with another mage or 2. That being said, what was interesting was that the goblins had stuck veins of iron down in the caves. Pure hematite. There was potential for other ores if what Brain described was true but it appeared the goblins were attempting to create a mine. There were bags of unrefined ore near the entrance on the inside and some rocks carved out to look sort of like anvils were apparent throughout.

Brain ran off to get at a mage and some other goblins that had managed to scurry away in the scuffle while Urman checked the corpses for anything alive and/or any missed loot. One happened to be alive, just playing dead, and sprung up on Kolstein who was closest to it. Needless to say, the Ebony Straight Sword was victorious right before Kolstein felt the blast of magic. Strange.

Back to the present, Kolstein checked the bag gotten from the runaway mage to find a map of some kind, showing the cave system in greater detail.

"_Interesting." _thought Kolstein as he began to formulate a future plan. "_I shall keep this place in mind for when I need that…"_

"Urman, Brain, come. We are leaving." spoke Kolstein as the women all began waking up at around the same time. As the ones conscious at Serene Tempest's win explained the situation to the others who were unconscious, the same round of tears were spilt as the women comforted each other.

With Kolstein in front, followed by Brain and the entourage of women in cloth wrappings covering their entire bodies, and Urman capping off the train, the group headed towards the nearest town, which would be a 3 days trek.

E-Rantel.

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Mithril ranked adventurer Momon sat at a table at the far end of the guildhall. The hall was large enough that he sat some 30 meters from the quest board, back to the wall. The hall was quite busy with around 60% of the seats being taken including some around him although he sat alone at the table with his partner Nabe.

His shadow-black helmet shone in the light as he turned his head towards his subordinate. "Narberal, head up and look for a good quest. Don't rush and grab something actually beneficial." Narberal proceeded to stand up. "Of course my lord, although I doubt there will be anything fit for one such as yourself."

No one was close enough to hear their quiet whispers so they could drop the act for a bit. As Nabe left her place and neared the board, Momon simply sat and watched thinking to himself. "_Man, we need to be more careful. What can I do to keep something like what happened to Shalltear from happening again? First there's this OP dude who just kinda uses whatever skills he wants and next thing I know someone brainwashes one of my guardians with a world level item. I don't know what to do…"_

"You stressed friend?"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Mo- no, now it was time for Ainz, spun his head quickly to his right where he heard the mature yet young speech. Sitting in the seat next to him was none other than Kolstein tempest, nightingale armor and all, fingers interlocked as he leaned his elbows on the table.

Head slightly tilted towards Ainz, Kolstein's crimson-tinged eyes lit up slightly.

"Good to see you again Ainz."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Alright so I know that this chapter was a bit shorter than usual but please bear with me.**

**It's been a while since I last posted and I wanted to get something out. More importantly though, I wanted to end here considering the next kinda arc can't be started within the next 500 words or so and any more would make the chapter have too much happening in it.**

**That being said, I'm not expecting to take nearly as long for the next chapter.**

**Again, I want to apologize to anyone who had been looking forward to the next chapter only to have to end up waiting several months.**

**Bye for now**


	14. Unlikely Situation

**So I'm just going to be real for a sec and say that I really appreciate people welcoming me back and what have you. Getting so many nice comments made me really happy and pushes me to keep writing. Thank you for that.**

**I hope you guys liked that last cliffhanger I added. needed to put something spooky there. But I would like to add a vote if at all possible this time.**

**I did get one guy who was kinda mad for whatever reason. I get it if you don't like the story or think I'm rushing things because I can totally see why some might think that. However, I've said multiple times that this is my first time really writing something like this and because I get so few opportunities to write these days due to my occupation, I want to get the story moving a bit. I'm still trying to figure out what information my audience prefers and what information my audience doesn't give two shites about. :) I'm always down for some criticism to see where I can improve, in fact, I implore people to give that, but when you start you a review with "Wow, I'm done…" and proceed to just aggressively bash everything, I not only get demoralized but I can't do anything with that information. Regardless, its fine. I knew coming into this that some people just wouldn't like what I wrote. Period.**

**I want to add some more people, maybe just 1 or 2 more, to Kolstein's party with him as leader, obviously. I'm not too sure who but put in your picks. It can be a person not met yet that appears later in the anime/manga, someone already in a party of which I would need to add in a segment where they change party, or even an OC. If it is an OC, try not just saying OC and give a bit more detail on who they are and what they do kind of thing. If OC is picked, I will give credit to that person.**

**I will decide who will join in the next chapter or 2. **

**Anyhow, back to the fic.**

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Unlikely Situation**

"_Oh what the hell man?! How'd you get there anyway?!" _

"Just calm down Ainz" spoke Kolstein. He himself was still and looking forward now, calm as can be. This placated Ainz. Just a little.

"_Ok, this is weird. Why is he just sitting there? Weren't we just trying to kill him some weeks ago? Plus, he knows I'm an undead. He could just expose me and my rep would be ruined… ahhhhh this is so frustrating."_

"So, why are you here Kolstein? We are enemies, are we not? What motive do you have to not attack me on sight and keep my identity solidified?"

"Ohh, nothing much Ainz. Just something of a thought struck me. If you were planning anything by being in public like you are, it would be easier for me to discover any such plans than if you were to go into hiding. That being said, I do have something I must ask. If you answer my question, depending on your answer, we could continue as foes or see to us some sort of alliance perhaps."

"_He wants to be friends? What?"_

"I see. And why would I want to have you as a comrade? I already lack any trust in you."

Kolstein expected such a question but parried it with a simple response. "Just answer my question and, if nothing else, I'll answer anything you want to know so long as it isn't too stupid. I swear if you ask for my weakness or something…" The last bit was murmured.

"Alright then, what do you need to know?"

"Where are you from?"

"_Hmm? Weird question but ok. I could just say the tomb and not really specify."_

"I am from my tomb, the great tom-" "No Ainz." Interrupted Kolstein.

"Where. Are you. From?"

"How about this is my question too. Where do you hail from Kolstein?"

Kolstein sighed. "_Here goes nothing."_

"Earth."

Ainz stilled. That was... unexpected. "_What the?! What does he mean earth?! I'm from earth… could he have… as well?!"_

"So you have heard of it." Kolstein didn't ask, more like stated. It was obvious considering the silence. "Kolstein. We should take this conversation somewhere more private." "Agreed."

As both stood to move, they noticed a fuming Nabe rocketing towards the table only to be stopped by Ainz's hand. "Nabe, I have some business with this one. Stay here and stay out of trouble."

Nabe was filled with worry, not that one could see. "But, my lord, this one-" "Enough. I will speak with him in private. See to it not to mess around with his comrades…"

Just as he spoke those words, Nabe flicked her head towards the sound of the door opening. She spotted two men, one with a katana and light leather armor, an unknown. The other was easily recognizable. His full suit of plate armor with battle axe was difficult to miss. Urman had entered. But who was the other man?

Turning back to her lord, Nabe came upon… nothing. Just the empty spots of where her lord and that… cretin… was just located. "_No! Lord Ainz could be in trouble! I need to inform the floor guardians." _

"Oh, if it isn't Miss Nabe! Please, take a seat. We should talk a bit and see what's new!" exclaimed Urman now a few paces in front of her and approaching.

"You disgusting pig. Out of my way before…" Nabe couldn't finish her sentence before Urman stood right in front of her, staring down through his helm. "_When did this one get this intimidating?" _Urman spoke quietly next. His voice still managed to adequately portray his true feelings."For the benefit of both our masters, allow them to speak without interruption and sit. Down."

Nabe reluctantly complied, considering the order from her lord and all, being joined by both Urman and the mystery man of whom didn't seem to be aware of Urman's temper spike nor the tense situation.

"Now, Miss Nabe, this is our party's newest member, Brain Unglaus…"

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

Both Kolstein and Ainz found themselves on top of a nearby church tower. With his legs hanging off the roof was Kolstein, Ainz just a meter or 2 above him with rapt attention directed at the other. Looking out into the distance, Kolstein watched a shooting star go by in the blackened sky of dark. Every star was so visible it was unlike anything Kolstein's seen before.

"_I've never seen a clearer night sky in my whole life…"_

"Kolstein.." Ainz's voice broke Nash out of his musings.

"You said you were from earth… how? I thought I was the only one but… I just don't know…"

"Don't worry too much Ainz, I'm in the same boat as you. I'm just glad too know I'm not alone. I mean come on, it's not everyday one gets turned into a vampire when they go to sleep and warps to another world."

"You went to sleep? It was different for me. I just logged into Yggdrasil and stayed past the server shutdown."

Kolstein turned around. "Yggdrasil? Is that a game you played? Never heard of it. I guess that means you became your character too huh… an elder lich… nice."

It was Ainz's turn to be shocked. "You haven't heard of Yggdrasil? It's by far the most popular DMMORPG on the planet. Everyone and their mothers heard of it."

"D?... You mean as in dive, like SAO?!" Kolstein stood up fast.

"SA what? What are you talking about, of course I mean dive…" Ainz couldn't finish before being cut off.

"Quick, Ainz, what year is it for you?"

"2138 was right before I came here. Why, is it different for you?"

Kolstein was speechless. "Yes… a very different time… Where I'm from, a full dive game is impossible, only talked about in fiction. We have Virtual reality but its been fixed to a screen put to your face, paired with headphones and controllers for a decade now."

"Wait, what? Then, what year is it for you?"

"When I left, it was 2019."

"Damn, that long. Over 100 years difference… that's really something." Ainz then thought of another thing. "Then, if you didn't come here through Yggdrasil, I know you said you woke up here, but what character are you right now? From a game or show or…"

"Ahh, yes. This is my main character from my favorite rpg. In a way, it's not too dissimilar to Yggdrasil I guess in the sense that its probably the most played game of its kind of our time. It's called Skyrim."

"I've actually heard of that. Its not spoken of often but its known amongst many of the modern gamers as an old time classic that was the foundation for many rpgs and even mmo's to come. Never seen what it looked like nor knew about the story. Although, its kinda cool that I'm here with an original Skyrim player though."

"Huh, still being talked about even 100 plus years in the future, huh? Not sure how you did it Todd but I hope you do just as well for the one to come…" murmered Kolstein.

"Did you say something?" "Ahh no, nothing. Just thinking to myself. Anyway, we can go on all day but the real question is where do we go from here? I mean, I never really had much against you here other than we basically attacked each other for little to no reason. Considering we are from the same place and, to our knowledge, the only people of our kind here, it would make sense for us to team up right?"

"Yes, you are right Kolstein." spoke Ainz as he brought a hand up to his chin in a thinking pose. "The only real problem is that I have the tomb and its inhabitants to think about. My floor guardians will be suspicious if the man who killed one of them were to suddenly walk the halls of Nazarick. Before we get into this, I want to know one thing."

Kolstein met Ainz's gaze and replied "I'm all ears."

"What is it you want from this world."

"What do you mean."

"You are obviously some kind of vampire now, right? You and I both are not who we were originally and my goals are different to just living my life like it was on earth. So tell me, do you truly care for this world?"

Kolstein's eyes tightened a little at the question. "What do you mean by that? That's a question that implies you have intentions to ruin this world…"

"No, no, god no!" Ainz quickly flailed his arms in front of himself in a cross. A subtle green light covered him before he put his arms down and seemed to calm.

"_Weird…"_

"I mean this. Yours and my race alike are looked upon as evil in this world. People will resent us for our true natures. You've hidden yours as much as I have mine, no? What I mean is that my passion and goals lie with Nazarick. I have not gone so far as to abandon humanity and this world. So long as Nazarick is safe and I can search for others like us, especially my old comrades, then I am happy. As much as I hate to say it, I will gladly kill anyone, human or not, in order to achieve this but I will not go out of my way to harm the world unnecessarily.

So what of you Kolstein? Do you want to lay flame to this world or have you fallen for its many riches and mean to protect it with a noble heart? What is your game?"

Kolstein thought for a second before replying with a smirk.

"My goal? My game? Why, it's simple. I want to surround myself with strong subordinates/comrades before creating my very own village. I will not be satisfied until I have a fortress city which is as strong as any nation, where I myself and anyone I care about can live freely and under constant protection and care. Where I can study, train, and prepare for any threat and maybe one day, eventually, find a way back to our world.

But don't get me wrong, that's way down the line. And besides, I have every intention of going back to our world not as what I used to be, but as I am now."

Now it was Kolstein who was gazing at Ainz with such depth and with such a spark that Ainz felt emotion unlike anything he's felt outside of Nazarick since coming to this world. That being an inundation of nostalgia, amongst other things. It was like looking at his old friend Touch Me ranting on the future heroics and legend of the newly established guild Nines Own Goal.

With the full moon lighting up the sky behind Kolstein, his glowing crimson eye piercing Ainz's own red luster, he continues.

"What say you Ainz? Sound like fun?"

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**Now I was thinking about this chapter for a while. Just laying in my bunk bed in the barracks while chewing my nails, glaring at the heavens, mad at any being up there for not giving me the answers of what to write in the next chapters :)**

**But in all seriousness, I thought that this was a good path to put that story down. I have seen a lot of stories but none of where the MC and Ainz duke it out a bit and then later find out the come from the same place and get closer because of it. I mean come on, if I was in this situation, regardless of who I was fighting, if I found out we were both in the same situation and from the same place, I would at least tell him about it and connect more so that we can work together.**

**Maybe that's just me but let me just say before people get mad, I have no intention of the two teaming up completely and having every chapter be Kostein with denizens of Nazarick. You'll have to wait for the next chapter to see what I mean but I will say it's more of a hidden truce/alliance.**

**Last but not least, I want to apologize as always for being late. 2 months is a long time, I know, but the army man… jeez it's harder than I thought. The few times I'm home, I'm just a tired blob who goes to bed at 9 and wakes up at 6:30 and goes for a run because I can't get out of my routines. I'll keep posting though and I have a pretty decent break around Christmas so I'll see what I can do.**

**Thanks for those who keep reading and welcome to those who are new. I really appreciate the continued support :)**

**Bye for now**


	15. Planned Preparations

**Classic case of "busy as absolute hell." Going through basic in the army is… fun…. ;-;**

**Bottom line, thanks for the continued support and for those still waiting and having favorited this story, know that I have by no means given up. I'm just occupied with other personal things these days. I will still post, even if it is a rarity.**

**Haven't decided on really who next to add into the party but I guess we'll see.**

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

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**Planned Preparations**

"_This is so frustrating! I need to be able to stay close to Lord Ainz. How else am I to perish as his shield should he require it?"_

Should one look at the table hidden in the back, a very irate and restless black-haired maiden could be spotted. Accompanying her is a knight in full armor along with a leather armor-bearing swordsman looking relatively confused.

"What is it that your foolish 'master' wants with my lord? Answer quickly or I will end you!" spoke Nabe quietly through clenched teeth. She didn't want any attention lest she goes against what her lord has taught her.

"I can't say I know to be frank. All I know is that they are talking and that I trust my master. Maybe you should share in my feelings and remain calm while waiting for them to finish." Just as Urman uttered his last word, the great adventurer Momon entered, appearing from behind Nabe.

"Lord-" Narberal couldn't even finish her sentence before Ainz interrupted her.

"Come, Nabe. We must be leaving. A slight change in plans has occurred…" As Narberal nodded, prepared to leave with Ainz, she caught a glimpse at the… _thing… _that's causing her and been causing everyone else in Nazarick such distress. Before anything negative could take place, Kolstein motioned for Urman and Brain to follow him.

"That was a nice chat. I believe we will be working well in the near future."

"Yes, I share in your sentiments. Be seeing you, Kolstein." With a final wave both parties parted ways with Kolstein heading towards the front door and Ainz heading to a back room.

"Lord Ainz, did that bug threaten or disrespect you in any way? Please, just give the word and Nazarick will take care of that worm."

"Nabe…" Ainz's use of Narberals alternate name reminds the pleiades of her fault. They are incognito still after all. "Do not disgrace us so. Kolstein will be of great help in the future...

And he might well be a close friend to Nazarick and myself…"

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"So leader, what was that whole thing about? I didn't know you had a past with some of the higher ranked adventurers…"

"Well, I don't, Brain. I was merely pondering the fact that we are closing in on Mr. Momon's rank of mythril and I believe that we may be colleagues in the future. Enough of that, I have a goal for us and it should help us a decent bit."

"What would that be, master?"

"We are going to be purchasing property on behalf of the party and allot it as the party's headquarters."

Brain raised a brow and looked at Kolstein, having his attention now fully taken from his attempted window shopping while strolling down a street in E-Rantel. Along with Urman, their notoriety has been building slowly and the citizens have been giving way more often than not, recognizing the new powerhouses.

"We really need a place like that? I mean, I still want my place I got now…"

"I believe I can answer on master's behalf." Urman spoke finally after listening to the two for the past few minutes. "Unless I am mistaken, I think that a headquarters would mean that we all have a place to truly call home. Solidify E-Rantel as our stomping groups and would mean that we can always have a place to go to. Even with your own place, having another location to be around is a benefit, even if not utilized often. It also means we have a general place to store the group's equipment and potentially house a workshop. Am I correct master?"

"Yes you are, just a few small advantages that you overlooked" began Kolstein. "The main one being that with a place like this, we can now have a place that can be completely sealed off to the outside world. We can place however many traps, wards, and whatnot, as we want and not get into trouble. It means we can keep secrecy should the need arise. It also makes it easier for potential allies to find us all the while funneling potential enemies to a single location. The worst enemy is the one who remains unknown. The best ones are brazen and will just march up to our doors."

"Hmmm, I guess you are right" agreed Brain. "But this whole workshop thing…"

"Yes, the workshop. I am quite the smith and crafter I'll have you know. I crafted most everything Urman is currently wearing." Brain was mildly surprised by that. "And trust me, I will get you some apparel which will blow your socks off. Come! We shall find a realtor!"

"Yes, of course master!" Urman sped off after the dashing Vampire.

"Wait! Who even says 'blow your socks off'?! And what's a realtor?!"

**VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV**

_(Albedo's POV)_

"W-what do you think could be so important that a-all of the floor guardians are summoned? N-not that I don't want to come o-of course!" Came the question and cry from a small dark elf gir- er, boy.

Two dark elf children, a red, braided hair maid and a white horned succubus were walking through the corridor of the great tomb of Nazarick, its floor given a spotless shean for the maid's endless fervor.

"Well, I cannot say I am quite sure" came the quick response of the succubus, Albedo. "No one can ever come to understand the endless machinations of our lord's mind. However, it may have something to do with the latest endeavor in the human settlements."

"_Narberal Gamma was acting quite nervous, When asked about it, she refused to speak, mentioning an order of silence from my love. His word is law after all, I cannot think of pushing further knowing that."_

A hmm was all that acknowledged that anything was even said as a grand door had been approached by the group. Giving a knock, a maid opened the door and told them all to enter with a bow, leaving as the group proceeded into the room.

Inside was nothing short of a magnificent expanse. A massive room filled with large pillars hugging the walls with banners clutching the space between each support. A long, intricately woven, almost machine-made, red carpet stretched all the way down the middle of the expanse, starting at the door and ending at a set of stairs which lead up 5 steps to the obvious centerpiece of the room; the throne.

On said obsidian-black throne sat the absolute ruler, the leader of all supreme beings, Ainz Ooal Gown. Down the stairs on the main floor stood all of the other pleiades battle maids, only missing Lupusregina, who had just entered. All floor guardians were also awaiting the arrival of the last to have been called. Demiurge, the red suited demon stood to the side eying the arrivals with a slight tug on his lips, etching an ever so slightly menacing grin to his face.

A hiss of cold air gathers the attention to a behemoth. A large, blue insectoid with great mandibles and what looks to be 2 glacial protrusions coming from his back. This was the guardian Cocytus.

A petite, pale skinned and dressed-in-red girl who appeared to be around 14-15 years of age stood nearby. Shallteer was her name. Her red, piercing eyes making themselves known through bangs that slightly covered the view of her peripherals.

Albedo, Aura and Mare make their way to the floor guardians while Lupusregina speed walks, in a dignified way mind you, towards the other battle maids.

Upon reaching their places, everyone turns towards the one true master of the great tomb and gets on one knee, bowing deeply.

Albedo is the one to speak. "Lord Ainz, as requested, all floor guardians except those of the 4th and 8th floors. The pleiades battle maids are also all present."

Ainz's red eye appears to gleam for a second before dying down.

"_Ooooo, lord Ainz's presence stimulates me more than anything else no matter how many times I feel it!"_

"I thank you for coming when called. I am pleased."

"Please, your thanks is wasted on us my lord. We will come no matter when you call and no matter what the purpose!"

"I see. Yes, that is good. Now, I would like to get into this as it is quite important. I have told Narberal a bit of what we will discuss already.

There was an incident in E-Rantel and I was… placed in a precarious situation…" Ainz couldn't even finish his sentence before being interrupted. All of the guardians and maid present had looks of great shock on their face with the exception of Narberal, whose features mirrored great shame.

"My lord! Please forgive this one's interruption, but are you alright?! You were not injured were you!? Narberal Gamma! This is precisely why you are there! To prote…"

"Albedo, enough!" boomed Ainz's voice. "I will not have you blame Narberal. It was by my own accord and it was more a gamble on my part that worked for the better. Narberal is not at fault. Forgive me for worrying you so."

"No! Please forgive my interruption! I do not deserve mercy!"

"You are alright Albedo, all is forgiven. Now, what is important is what I have gained in my gamble."

All attention was on Ainz's words. Not like it ever wasn't though.

"I have found where Kolstein Nash comes from." This brought great surprise to all of the beings in the room. Aura's face couldn't be seen, having shoved her gaze to the floor in shame of her defeat. Her defeat to Kolstein was a defeat to Nazarick. Her lord had been so merciful as to forgive her and tell her to learn from her mistakes yet she can't help but feel inadequate.

All other guardians were fuming at the idea of any interaction with that skum, yet they were glad to find where **it** could have come from. Clues such as these can lead to discovering its weaknesses amongst other things.

"He does not come from this world." All guardians' faces froze and Aura looked up once more.

Demiurge whispered "then, he comes from…"

"He does not come from Yggdrasil either… no…

Kolstein Nash is different from the rest…

He comes from a world you are not aware of yet…

He is from the original world. The world where all of the supreme beings originate."

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**Hehe, a cliffhanger. Perfect. I wrote this chapter over the course of 2 months, kind of on and off. I'm not 100% sure as to where to take the story and, as I mentioned before, I'm not really privy to my own time table anymore considering I'm a soldier now.**

**You ain't readin some recruit's fanfic.**

**You're lookin at a Private First class baby, oorah!**

**Anyway, back to the important stuff.**

**I have definitely not given up on the fanfic. Just the uploads are more than likely to be far between. And for that I apologize. I hate reading a fanfic and then having the author give out without saying anything.**

**I've become what I've hated all along!**

**Not really though cause I will still write.**

**I digress!**

**I really love all of the support cause I hadn't thought of this fanfic for two weeks until I got a notification on my phone while I was at the shooting range at the base that told me someone commented on my fanfic. I was reminded halfway through a mag of 5.56 that I had a story to write!**

**Regardless, for those that are still waiting, and if you aren't really waiting and have given up, I can't blame you. I don't and won't take offense so don't worry.**

**Bye for now**


	16. Allied Mingle

**I have nothing to really say other than WOW there were a lot of comments in the span of 48 hours. Thanks once more for the unending support!**

**VVVVVVVVVVVV = Change of Scene or time (If it's the latter, like a flashback, it will say)**

**XXXXXXXXXXXX = Start and/or end of the chapter**

Talking: "Hey there old friend."

Thinking: "_Is this guy serious right now?"_

Summons: "**As you wish."**

Summons Thoughts: "_**Is he serious?"**_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Allied Mingle**

Silence.

The throne room for Nazarick was entirely silent.

"But, my lord…" came the surprisingly quiet voice of Demiurge. "What do you mean the original world. The world of the Supreme beings origin?" The same question was on all of the guardians mind, although it did make sense.

Some of their creators would leave and not come back for some time and almost all of them, with the exception of the merciful Lord Ainz, had now left. But considering they have received confirmation, to some degree, that their creators are not in fact dead, another world that they have gone to sounds more than likely.

"I will not go into extreme detail" the booming voice of Ainz disrupted the silence that followed the question and demanded to be heard. That demand was met but the whole of Ainz's subordinates.

"However, what I will say is that yes, there is an original world. To my knowledge, there are quite many worlds. That being said, they are all interconnected with one world in the center. A world that creates other worlds and this world is where all, myself included, of the supreme beings come from. This world is called earth."

Before they could ask anything more, Ainz raised a hand, stopping any attempts at speaking from the guardians. "I must ask you to not ask questions regarding earth now. Know that the only piece of information that is important as of this moment is that Kolstein also comes from this world." Everyone once again remembered the true meaning of this conversation. Or rather, what was the reason?

Albedo had this question. "My lord, if I may. How did you receive this information? And what was the risky situation?"

"It is good that you ask questions, Albedo. To answer you, I had a one-on-one discussion with Kolstein and I found out a lot. We discussed a few things but overall, I, and by default all of you should as well, look at him in a different light. What say you to this situation?"

The guardians were unsure of who their lord was talking to until

"Well, I feel like, as I've mentioned, we both benefit." A new voice that has already been heard by the majority of the room inhabitants makes itself known. All of the guardians turn around on the spot and those with weapons equipped them and looked at the new presence, only to see a familiar and unwelcomed man. Who could it be?

"Whoa, take it easy there. I mean no trouble" came the calm voice from the hooded Kolstein. "Guardians, Pleiades, sheath your weapons and stand down. You now look at an ally.

Ainz's subordinates were hesitant, but only for a moment. They dequiped their arms of combat and stood back, yet not letting their eyes off of Kolstein. He was alone.

"So, Kolstein. It is better if you give a better introduction than last time. Hide less and maybe you can get along better with the guardians and battle maids." Kolstein obliged and pulled down his hood. The guardians stilled seeing what stared back at them. They had thought he was just human, yet they were proven wrong the second they saw his whole face.

Kolstein has the face of a human but no normal person has skin that's ever so slightly pale partnered with those glowing crimson eyes.

Nodding his head in greetings, Kolstein begins. "Hello! Nice to meet you again. I am Kolstein Nash, from earth. More specifically, the US, though that has no meaning to you lot. I am a third human, a third vampire and a third dragon, so if you critique me for my race, then you are by default offending multiple of Nazaricks inhabitants!" Kolstein finishes, having a friendly smile the whole way through.

Many thoughts were going through the guardians heads.

"_Oh? No wonder why he could hold his own for so long."_ thought Sebas. He unconsciously touched the spot that had been searing from his cut given to him by Kolstein's enchanted sword, long since having healed due to the great usage of healing magic. "_I would like to get another look at that blade and his fighting style…"_

"_Another vampire? I wonder which race exactly… wait! Vampire! Maybe he knew Lord peroroncino!" _thought the excited Shalltear.

"_Why would Lord Ainz partner with this man? I fail to see the reasoning…"_ Albedo was not happy but cannot go against her lord's words.

"_So I didn't lose to a human but a mix of multiple races? Makes sense I guess. He was so strong and… I want to know how I died. What attack did he use? Where did I go wrong in our fight? If he's our ally, could he maybe show me? I mean… he did spare me… maybe he is nice?" _The loss was still bugging Aura but she now saw this as an opportunity to figure out her faults and how to recompense with her defeat.

Hopefully she can get some help…

"Hey, you look kind of down, kid." Aura was startled from her thoughts as Kolstein's words were addressed directly towards her. "I will not apologize for the end results of our fight. You engaged me, not knowing what I was capable of." Aura's gaze shot down again.

"However. You were… are strong." Aura was surprised by this. "You fought with your last breath. That's to say that your resolve impressed me and you weren't bad in any department, just outmatched due to a lack of experience. If you want, I can show you a thing or two? I did, afterall, fight you one-on-one. Who better to help you grow as a warrior than one who's fought you? Afterall, I would hate to see a new ally lose in battle when I could have stopped it by helping them out, however that help is given."

Aura looked Kolstein in the eyes and sensed no layers of deceit. He was sincere, it was easy to tell. A smile grew on her face, her eyes glistening by a small margin. She answered with a cheerful "Yes! Thank you!" and moved closer to him all the while asking some questions about their fight or just random things. "_I think I like him. He's different from what I thought he'd be like. Lord Ainz must have a knack for finding cool people…"_

The other guardians were looking on, most slightly shocked to see Aura take to him so quickly, all things considered. Mare, being the closest to Aura as her brother, closed in to Kolstein as well. Mare wanted to thank Kolstein for showing mercy to his sister. For giving her life back without much, if any gain.

Ainz watched it all from the back, smiling a bit internally. A warm feeling washed over him, not enough to provoke the emotion suppression but still feeling good.

"_Ahhh, so nostalgic. You remind me so much of my old friends Kolstein. I wonder how the future will look from now on…" _Ainz glanced up towards the top-ends of the pillars, looking at each of the banners.

Unaware of the dangerous glint in Albedo's eyes as she, for the most part, hid a glare to their newest guest.

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**Hey! Sorry about the shorter chapter. I got out what I wanted really and wanted to push out another chapter faster than previous times.**

**I can't in good faith promise that the next chapters will come out as fast as this one but I do want you all to know that I have not given up on this fic. I think it's rather fun and stress-relieving to write sometimes.**

**Now, before people write that Kolstein shouldn't be accepted so easily, I'll remind you to look into the fact that only Sebas and the dark elf twins accepted him more or less on the spot. They were told by their absolute lord that Kolstein was now an ally and in Sebas's mind, who is a 'good' character from Nazarick, Kolstein showed mercy to Aura and was a good fighter. He respects Kolstein to some degree and can see how Kolstein can be of use to Nazarick. Aura and Mare see him similarly but with Aura it's a bit more personal. Kolstein can be a major asset to her and, although they aren't normal children by any means, they are still kids.**

**Kolstein is quite a bit stronger than her and yet showed mercy and is now even going out of his way to help her. If she didn't like him to some extent, I feel it would make Aura's character too cold. She isn't some goodie tooshoos but she's a gleeful dark elf child who loves everyone in Nazarick. Kolstein is an ally. She doesn't love him, but she's enjoying his presence.**

**I can't believe I wrote a small essay on why a child likes my character. AND NOT ROMANTICALLY! Get that thought out of your head :(**

**Bye for now**


End file.
